A Promise to Remember

by: Kathryn Cushman

Published by: Bethany House (October release)

Reviewed by Crystal Johnson

Grief is tricky, but even trickier is a guilty conscience. A Promise to Remember takes you into two different worlds. One being that of Melanie Johnston who is a grieving single mother outraged by her son, Jeff’s death. She keeps a scrapbook in his memory, determined that his good deeds and the fact he affected so many lives would not be forgotten.

The other world is that of Andie Phelps, a wealthy woman, but still a grieving mother at the loss of her son, Chad, and the part she and her husband played in the senseless deaths of both boys. She’s also determined to fulfill Chad’s last request to paint something cool for a fundraiser he was heading up for his school’s scholarship fund in hopes of raising more money than that of the previous year.

You have two mothers from opposite sides of the fence, both grieving the loss of their sons and reacting out of hurt because of it. Each is determined to carry out the cause of each son’s dream, thereby fulfilling a promise.

I feel as though the hearts of both mothers were in the right place, but grief strikes everyone differently and each person attempts to cope the best they can. In a situation such as that of Andie and Melanie, no one wins, and it’s easy to cast blame and take sides. But it doesn’t change the truth that there is no love like a mother’s love, and it’s the love of her child that will overshadow anything else their life may mirror. All in all A Promise to Remember will most likely make you experience every emotion the two grieving mothers encounter as they try to go on living without the sons they loved dearly.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who has heart enough to read it, because once you start reading there is no way you won’t be affected in some way by the time you reach the ending. To me, Kathryn Cushman is bestseller material!

Armchair Interviews says: Need your heartstrings pulled a bit? Then read A Promise to Remember.

Author’s Web site: http://www.KathrynCushman.com