A Mother’s Promise
On sale
27th February 2025
Price: £24.99
The Sunday Times Bestseller
‘Quite simply the most important book you will read this year’ Hazel Gaynor
‘An extraordinary read’ Lorraine Kelly
‘Deeply moving‘ Daily Mail
‘Mama, it’s me.’ I held her hand in mine, hoping it would give her the strength to hold on.
Finally, she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.
‘Do not cry when I die.‘
From invasion to liberation, September 1939 to April 1945, as Renee was marched from ghetto to camp, there was one constant. One hand that clutched hers – her mother’s. Every day for nearly six years, mother and daughter were bound together in hell. From Auschwitz-Birkenau to Bergen-Belsen, they were a powerful source of solace and hope for one another.
The strength of Sala’s love gave them both something fragile yet beautiful to cling to in an ugly, depraved world. It was her mother who hid Renee, lied to the SS, went right when she was directed left – whose small actions had life-saving consequences. Now, for Renee, the need to share has finally overcome the desire to forget.
A Mother’s Promise is a love letter to a mother eighty years in the making.
*****
‘This book travels to the very heart of existence’ Joshua Levine
‘This is a story the world needs to know’ Madeline Martin
‘Will stay with me for a long time… A beautiful account, so movingly told’ Anna Stuart
‘Powerful, poignant, and deeply important. A must-read’ Elizabeth Bellak
Reviews
A tender, moving account that shakes you to the core and yet stirs you to believe in hope and survival despite the worst depravity imaginable
A searing, fearless, important book, where love, faith and tenderness shine through indescribable horror. Everyone should read it
Deeply moving and essential reading... The trust and affection between the two women gives every page extraordinary emotional depth
A valuable contribution to the genre of Holocaust memoirs ... sheds light on the forgotten struggles that continued afterwards
A powerful testament to a mother's love during unbelievable hardship ... Renee's story of resilience and survival is powerful, poignant, and deeply important. A must-read
Balanced and accessible ... The manner in which Kate Thompson chooses to intervene does not alter the testimony; rather, it gives the reader the opportunity to recognise that the fate of Renee Salt is the archetype of those who survive the Holocaust and attempt to reclaim their status as human beings
This is a book that will stay with me for a long time ... A beautiful account, so movingly told
A deeply moving, visceral narration
Renee Salt and Kate Thompson come together in powerful unity in a way that is both deeply moving and unforgettable. This is a story the world needs to know
An unforgettable story about the power of love, a story that reminds us how important hope is, a story that proves to us that human beings are remarkable and endlessly inspiring