![]() | This week I am delighted to welcome a newcomer to my blog - author and creative writing tutor Julie Hartley.
Julie is the author of the Second World War story Her Secret Soldier. Her latest title is The Promise She Made, which was published on February 12th.
She is here with us today as part of the Cover Love series, to celebrate the beautiful cover of The Promise She Made. |
Cover Love… with Julie Hartley
When I saw the cover for my second historical novel, The Promise She Made, I fell in love with it. My main character, Ruby, is a strong and determined young woman, and the artist captures this perfectly in her expression. As the Battle of Britain rages on in summer 1940, Ruby defies her aunt and her fiancé by booking passage for herself and her little sister to Canada. She’s determined to keep her sister safe – it was her last promise to her dying mother.
The shattered buildings behind Ruby are also significant, and I was thrilled when I saw those. Ruby fails to keep her sister safe because their ship – the SS City of Benares – is torpedoed by the Nazis in the middle of the Atlantic. After little Eliza is reported ‘lost at sea’ Ruby must return to England and put together the shattered pieces of her life. She does this while the London Blitz is underway, so she faces enormous turmoil, inside and out.
I also really liked the colour scheme for this cover – the mauve shades behind the images.
My first novel – Her Secret Soldier – was set in a cottage deep in an ancient forest, and that cover had a blue/green palette, which was perfect. | ![]() |
The Promise She Made is a more urgent, dramatic, emotional tale, and the shades of purple reflect that.
I loved writing this book, which is all about the struggles of a young woman to come to terms with the past and build a meaningful future for herself. It’s also a bit of a mystery tale, too. Ruby trains to be a spy, so she can help defeat the Nazis, who torpedoed a ship full of innocent children – and that’s when she discovers a letter that hints at an unexpected possibility....
Her sister might still be alive.
* * * *
Amazon link:
https://geni.us/ThePromiseSheMade
Julie Hartley’s website :
Make A Comment
Comments (0)