Abi is mesmerized by Eliane’s story. She is moved by the valor and courage shown by this woman and through that comes an understanding of knowing that “we are stronger than we think we are.” Abi awakens to her ability to be strong, to be able to enjoy the world that surrounds her, and to be the person she has always wanted to be. I liked this book but I think it is somehow overrated on Goodreads. The book follows the stories of Eliane from World War II and Abi in 2017. They have no connection except that they both show some kind of courage and resistance to the circumstances they live in. The plot was good but I felt it was very predictable and the characters were not fully fleshed out. Both women have tremendous challenges to overcome; very different, but psychologically and physically just as difficult to bear. Abi hears Eliane's story but by bit, every day a little, which comforts her and helps her overcome what I would call her PTSD.

As the war wages on, year after year, Eliane, her family and friends find it more and more of a struggle to survive. Eliane, at the behest of her employer, the elderly Comte de Bellevue, plays her own part in the resistance movement.I felt the book drifted along and I didn't really connect or care for the story or the characters. It felt quite a bit twee in places and only for this was recommended to me by a good friend who really enjoyed the novel I would have abandoned it half way through as it was quite a struggle to finish. How much can two women in different times have in common? How can someone from the past, nearly 100 years ago, make us realise that maybe our own little problems are really nothing in the grand scheme of things?

Fiona Valpy spent seven years living in France, having moved there from the UK in 2007. Her love for the country, its people and their history has found its way into the books she’s written. She draws inspiration from the stories of strong women, especially during the years of the Second World War, and her meticulous historical research enriches her writing with an evocative sense of time and place. Thank you to Fiona Valpy, Lake Union Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC. The Beekeeper’s Promise is available now! The historical sections in Occupied France during the war were well researched and realistic, You could tell the author had spent time in France and loved it there, the passion for the country shone through. I loved how the bees were woven into the story of Eliane and they were used to move the story through the seasons and give Eliane a reason to be

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There is so much need for mending broken hearts and healing, no matter what year a person lives in. In 2017, Abi, found herself working in France, where she starts mending her brokenness by connecting with a life of a young beekeeper from the late 1930's and through the war. Eliane's selfless love is tested throughout the story as she also experiences good and bad tides with the war and its tragic impacts on her drive to resist giving up. While I had a reasonably good idea of how the story was going to end, and how the two narratives would be drawn together, there was enough suspense to keep it interesting. From the bestselling author of Sea of Memories comes the story of two remarkable women, generations apart, who must use adversity to their advantage and find the resilience deep within. There seems to be an accidental habit for me to read a book that is about two different people living years apart. Reading about Abi was somewhat of an interruption for me, I was not as connected to her, and I just was glad she was also thinking about Eliane. Abi had a big healing journey in this particular 2017 summer. I was happy for her and somewhat relieved that she was becoming a stronger person as her summer went on.

Eliane's story had more substance to it than Abi's. Abi's resistance is basically was against her husband Zac who physically kept abusing her. Eliane's story was supposed to change Abi's life but I don't see in what way it did because when Abi started to know about Eliane she already was out of that toxic relationship so it did not make sense to me in what way Eliane's story changed her life as the synopsis suggested. I think it would have been a much better book if Abi's part would not exist at all and the whole book was about Eliane instead. Another thing I don't understand is the title of this book. What was the promise and to who it was made? This book, although a work of fiction, does contain some historical events that did happen during WWII. The telling of this story is done in two separate timelines and it worked so well, laying out what was going one around these two very different, in very different times, the present and the past. World Was II was a frightening time for those fighting and those left behind. The Beekeeper's Promise by Fiona Valpy is a historical fiction novel about World War II that oscillates between two time periods - the past and the present 2017. It follows the journey of two women Eliane and Abi and how they stay true to themselves no matter the circumstances. Eliane Martin – 1938-1944: A young woman, Eliane Martin tends the beehives and kitchen gardens of the Château Bellevue. Content and happy with her lot in life, everything changes for Eliane, the Château, and the country when the German army occupies France. They requisition Château Bellevue for purposes of billeting their soldiers. Eliane, and the rest of the meager Château staff are expected to wait on the soldiers. In addition, travel and commerce was greatly hampered by the German occupation. Not to mention, many of the French countrymen were being deported to the labour camps if they were Jewish.

What you need to know before your trail

I have read quite a few very amazing historical fiction books on WW II and unfortunately this one just doesn't compare to some of the historical fiction out there on this time in history. De wereld was niet meer zoals altijd. Het was tijd om te vechten voor de dingen die ertoe deden. Ze leefden samen met de vijand; het was tijd om te doen wat ze kon om zich daartegen te verzetten."