Promise to Arlette, Serena Burdick
Promise to Arlette, Serena Burdick
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

Promise to Arlette

Author: Serena Burdick

Narrator: Fiona Hardingham

Unabridged: 11 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/17/2025

Categories: Fiction, Women, Family Life


Synopsis

With the scope of a saga and the heart of a thriller, this is an evocative historical novel following a married couple whose idyllic 1950s suburban life is threatened by the promises they made during World War II.

Sidney and Ida Whipple are living the suburban 1950s American dream, complete with two children and a white picket fence, which didn’t seem possible when they first met at the height of WWII in France. Reveling in the present, they can almost convince themselves that their past is behind them. But when their neighbors show off a newly purchased Man Ray photograph, Ida comes face-to-face with the person she loved and lost in the war: Arlette.

Only Ida knows the truth about the photograph, and why it can’t possibly be authentic. In an attempt to right past wrongs, she travels to California vowing to confront Man Ray. Sidney wakes to find his wife is missing, the photograph in question stolen, and all the secrets they’ve tried to bury come rushing back. With his daughters in tow, he travels after Ida, hoping to forge a new path together. Instead, their sojourn leads to a shocking discovery that could pull their family apart in this sweeping, unforgettable story about love and friendship, trust and betrayal, and how promises made, broken, and ultimately renewed, can determine our fate.

About Serena Burdick

Serena Burdick is the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Girls with No NamesThe Stolen Book of Evelyn AubreyFind Me in Havana, and Girl in the Afternoon. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, holds a BA from Brooklyn College in English literature and an AA from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in theater. Find out more at SerenaBurdick.com.  


Reviews

Goodreads review by Martha on February 01, 2025

This book captured my heart with passionate characters that are both believable and beautiful. This is so much more than an historical World War II novel. It is also an incredible and complicated love story that takes us from a group of free loving artist, to becoming a secret organization trying to......more

Goodreads review by Laura on March 10, 2025

This book is really good!! Set in England, France and the US before, during and after makes it a sweeping story of trauma and redemption. Both a love story and a tragedy, it kept me hooked the whole time. I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for my honest review.......more

Goodreads review by Kayla on June 15, 2025

Loved! A WWII historical fiction that just felt different from any I’ve read. We open after the war and our main girl Ida is in American suburbs when her neighbor reveals a Man Ray piece she just bought and Ida takes off. We then flashback to her life in England before the way, and see her make her......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on June 16, 2025

An absolutely complex historical fiction book about what humans do to survive. I must say, reading this while *gestures to what’s happening in the world and our country* might not have been the best timing but it’s a good reminder why this war was fought. This book takes place before, during and aft......more

Goodreads review by Amy on July 28, 2025

A Promise to Arlette by Serena Burdick is a slow burn narrative that weaves an intricate story spanning 1930s Paris, 1940s French chateaus, and 1950s American suburbs, centered on the engaging characters of Arlette and Ida. Readers encounter Ida, a talented violinist raised by horrifically abusive p......more