The story itself wasn't bad. If you're looking for an easy read, a story where you can root for the main character and a lighter version of a prostitution story then Belle is your book.

I read Lesley’s book The Promise last year and having really liked that, I was very much looking forward to reading Survivor. I enjoyed 'Belle', the previous book, and was very much looking forward to this sequel. I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. When we first meet Belle again, she has married, has her own hat shop and lives a very respectable life with her husband Jimmy, her old friend Mog and her husband Garth. Life changes for everybody however with the outbreak of WW1. Jimmy enlists to go to war and a life changing event forces Belle to reconsider what she wants to do with her life and how she can help the war effort. We then follow Belle's story through those terrible war years. I felt really invested in Belle's story and it is brilliantly told with sensitivity and care but at the same time unafraid to depict the cruel, brutal reality of the world she finds herself in after being sold into prostitution. While this made the book hard to read at times, it gave the story the gravity and openness it needed and was owed.I hated Belle's choices when it came to Etienne at first and I was furious, and then I hated jimmy. But now, I like Etienne better especially at the end of the book and now I don't hate them so much. I was saddened by Garth's death but maybe it was necessary for their trip to New Zealand and their liberation? And I expected that Etienne would follow her to New Zealand Survivor is another triumph from one of the most engaging authors around. Although Mariette is the central figure of the story, the supporting characters are fabulous too. From the small rural town of Russell in New Zealand to the vibrancy and glitter of London, the sedate and peaceful Somerset and then the horrors of Nazi occupied Northern France this is a passionate and evocative novel that grips from the opening chapter. Although she meets another few men along her paths, none feel like suitable suiters. Belle is then in a bombing that hurts herself and kills a friend. She takes on watching out for her friends' children from a distance and working in a pub. Survivor continues the story told in Belle (2011) and The Promise (2012), but this is Mariette's story and it really doesn't matter if you've read the others first, this story stands perfectly well on it's own.

Amerika2ya onu yollayan çetenin elemanı olan Etienne ile yolculuk boyunca önce ona güvenmeyi ve katlanmayı sonra da arkadaş olmayı başarır..Etienne'nin arkadaşlığı ve tavsiyeleri ile yeni ülke de ayakta kalmayı başarırsa da macera daha burada bitmemiştir. Aconselho e recomendo totalmente este livro 5***** Maravilhoso, Cativante, Fantástico, Excelente……. Whilst in London under the care of her trusted Godfather and his wife. Whilst on ship travelling she not only embarks on the ship, but on a handsome young man, but Mariette has been burnt in love before, she she figures this time SHE will have the upper hand, but it seems all men are only after one thing. Mariette Carrera is just 18 years old, she's wilful. Like her Mother when she was young and a bit of Bella's Mom thrown in who abandoned Bella and left with a servant while her Mother 'entertained' men.Belle's mother, Annie, mentioned that young girls forced into prostitution rarely, if ever get over the mental and emotional trauma. However, Belle doesn't seem to have changed one whit. She's pretty flat and static as a character. She is married now to her sweet husband. His name is Jimmy and he supports her as she supports them both on the hat shop she finally opened– her dream for so long, ever since she was young. But they can’t see what’s coming as the first world war gathers on the horizon and it is certain that a storm is coming. Belle’s life is so crazy but it’s about to change more than she ever knew possible– is she ready for it? The Promise is set in 1914 in London and reunites the reader with Belle Reilly in this sequel to Belle. Belle has finally found happiness and a life she has always wanted thanks to her husband Jimmy. Now she has achieved another dream that she has always wanted to follow; owning and running a hat shop. But when the first world war starts to slowly arrive like a ship on the horizon, Belle’s crazy life is about to change in ways that she never even saw coming. Lesley and her brother ended up in orphanages for three years after their mother died because their father was in the Royal Marines. They eventually got to go home again when their father remarried a sharp ex-Army nurse and was joined later by two more kids that were adopted by their father and stepmother, as well as a series of foster children that would come through. Recomendo a todos, recomendo a todos os apaixonados, aos emocionados aos devoradores de livros, mas acima de tudo recomendo a todos com um espírito humano. Disfrutem esta leitura, vivam-na e acima de tudo aprendam com o passado.

A Promessa faz parte de uma trilogia, é o segundo livro. O primeiro é "Sonhos proibidos", de que gostei bastante. Neles é-nos contada a história de Belle, que como todas as protagonistas da Lesley Pearse é forte, determinada, corajosa e facilmente cai nas simpatias do leitor e dos outros personagens do livro. In London Mariette throws herself into her new life of glamour and parties, she adores earning her own money and having some independence.This was a re-read for me, though it has been many years since I first read it. Reading it this time my rating increased from a 4 to a 5 star. I think this is largely due to the benefits of seeing the story through more mature, informed and experienced eyes. Minden egyes sorát élveztem. Letehetetlen, érzelmekkel teli, fordulatos, izgalmas és szívszorító történet egy gyönyörű lányról, akinek helyén van az esze és a szíve is. Mélyen megrendített Belle sorsa és az amilyen gyorsan felnőtté vált, valamint az is, hogy az általa átéltek ellenére milyen naiv tudott lenni bizonyos helyzetekben. Nagyon szívbemarkoló volt, ahogy a Jimmy-Noah-Philipphe-Etienne-Garth férfikar mindent megtett a lány felkutatásáért és nagyon a szívembe zárta magát Lisette és Gabrielle karaktere is. Akivel nem tudtam mit kezdeni, az Annie volt, az ő döntéseivel a kötet végéig nehezen tudtam azonosulni, annak viszont örülök, hogy a végére árnyaltabb vált róla a kép és valamennyire feloldozást is nyert. Akit viszont nem szívleltem valamiért, az Mog volt. Már a neve is idegesített, meg az állandó teafőzése krízishelyzetben, de igazából épp a túlzott irgalmas szamaritánus szerepkör tette számomra unszimpatikussá. Igenis tehetett a Belle és Annie közötti viszony kialakulásáról, emiatt sem szerettem.