Promise

Praise

“A luminous coming-of-age story set in 1950s Maine . . . [Griffiths was] someone I wished to read again and again.”—Kaitlyn Greenidge for Harper’s Bazaar

“Promise beautifully captures how teenagers become more aware of everything around them and wonder about their place in the world. . . . Rachel Eliza Griffiths expertly tells a story of racial tension and discrimination, self-exploration, and the simple right to exist amid the spread of the Civil Rights Movement in Maine.”—BookBrowse

“Luminescent. . . . a devastating story of remarkable resilience.”—The Christian Science Monitor

“A heartbreaking and beautiful debut that doesn’t hold any punches.”—WAMC

“A searing account of how racism reaches its long arm into all corners of American life, Griffiths’ first novel also honors the love cradled within Black families and how it grants them inner strength and the power of defiance. . . . An assured debut about generational trauma, finding home, and the importance of nourishing joy.”—Historical Novel Society

“Promise is forged in a crucible of irrational violence and darkness that paradoxically gives birth to luminous, resilient love. This is a novel so potent, written in such transcendent prose, one wonders if it’s secretly a magic spell. It’s a stunning achievement.”—Kiran Desai, author of The Inheritance of Loss

“This is a magical, magnificent novel that amounts to a secret history of an America we think we know but never really knew . . . The result bowls us over with shock and grief, but eventually fills our hearts with awe and wonder.”—Marlon James, author of Moon Witch, Spider King

“Promise is a stunning exploration of the weight and triumph of legacy, of what it has cost Black Americans to make homes in a country where violence and terror pursue them, and of all of the things it can mean to be called home.”—Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections

“A beautifully rendered narrative and a startlingly fresh voice . . . I fell in love with the people between these pages. This is truly the first book in a long time where I had to force myself to stop reading.”—Jacqueline Woodson, New York Times bestselling author of Red at the Bone

“Poetic and powerful, Promise slices through self-delusion with its many faces of heroism, loss, and the grace it takes to find a sense of equality in our hearts.”—Walter Mosley, author of Blood Grove

“This is a gorgeous and heart-stopping account of the casual and calculated racism endured by a Black family in 1950s Maine as well as the love and strength that sustain them. . . . A stunning and evocative portrait of love, pride, and survival.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The stirring debut novel from poet Griffiths depicts the insidious reach of racism in the Jim Crow era. . . . This stands as an affirmation of a family’s fierce pride and hard-won joy.”—Publishers Weekly