La Promesse - The Promise
Marie de Lattre and Nicolas Buysse, Illustrations by Julia Freund
Presses de la Cité, 160 pages, 2025
‘I have three first names: Marie, Madeleine and Frida. One that conceals. One that protects. One that reveals and betrays my origins.'
For a long time, Marie knew nothing of her father's secret. Until the day he tells her of his past and asks her not to reveal anything. It's about a promise made to Marie's grandparents at Drancy in 1942. The promise to save a child from deportation and to look after him.
For twenty years, Marie investigates to find out the truth and to pass on to her daughters the secret of their origins.
“An extraordinary story, a tragic story, a French story. “Augustin Trapenard, *La Grande Librairie*.
“This is the most incredible family story imaginable. “Étienne de Montety, Le Figaro littéraire
“Marie de Lattre's splendidly restrained and angry writing breaks the silences of this haunting past. “Ariane Singer, Le Monde des livres
“This sublime story, with its unexpected ending, speaks of absolute love. Don't miss it. “Gaëtane Morin, Le Parisien
