All We Were Promised

A Novel

By: Ashton Lattimore

Narrated by: Shayna Small, Ashton Lattimore

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

A housemaid with a dangerous family secret conspires with a wealthy young abolitionist to help an enslaved girl escape, in volatile pre-Civil War Philadelphia.

The rebel . . . the socialite . . . and the fugitive. Together, they will risk everything for one another in this “beguiling story of friendship, deception, and women crossing boundaries in the name of freedom” (Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends).

Philadelphia, 1837. After Charlotte escaped from the crumbling White Oaks plantation down South, she’d expected freedom to feel different from her former life as an enslaved housemaid. After all, Philadelphia is supposed to be the birthplace of American liberty. Instead, she’s locked away playing servant to her white-passing father, as they both attempt to hide their identities from slavecatchers who would destroy their new lives.

Longing to break away, Charlotte befriends Nell, a budding abolitionist from one of Philadelphia’s wealthiest Black families. Just as Charlotte starts to envision a future, a familiar face from her past reappears: Evie, her friend from White Oaks, has been brought to the city by the plantation mistress, and she’s desperate to escape. But as Charlotte and Nell conspire to rescue her, in a city engulfed by race riots and attacks on abolitionists, they soon discover that fighting for Evie’s freedom may cost them their own.

©2024 Ashton Lattimore (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Against the backdrop of untold history, Ashton Lattimore spins a beguiling story of friendship, deception, and women crossing boundaries in the name of freedom. Disparate and deeply real, Charlotte, Nell, and Evie struggle to fully trust one another, but ultimately discover that together they may be stronger than everything their turbulent world casts against them.”—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends

“A compelling tale of three Black women caught between the promises and threats of a supposedly free, pre-Civil War Philadelphia.”—Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake

“Masterfully brings the era to life and kept me turning pages. A triumphant debut!”—Martha Hall Kelly, author of Lilac Girls

The characters were spot on

As I titled this review, the characters were spot on. The details of life in those days was also very historically accurate. A true pleasure to listen to.

A magnificent book

There is nothing boring in this book. It is filled with action. It is also filled with three main characters named Charlotte,Nell, and Evie. They were the stars of this story. They were strong,tough women living in dangerous times. They fought for and with each other. The words they spoke made me pause and read again. The narrators were stars as well. They could not have performed better. This debut author needs to continue writing. I will be searching for future books written by Ashton Latimore.

Vivid, Engaging Eenlightenment

This is top- drawer historical fiction, a story that transports the listener back in time and incites one to rearrange responsibilities in order to keep listening. The author shares perfect details without undue embellishment. One can feel the fabrics, taste the foods, share the emotions. Buildings, families, enslavers, and tangled circumstances come to life. One feels the characters’ emotions and winces at resulting misunderstandings.

All We Were Promised invites conversations about life, family, self- understanding, acceptance, current national issues, human rights, and love. Beautifully written; wonderfully portrayed.

A truly captivating and riveting story.

So captivating It was difficult to stop listening. It's Beautifully & cleverly written! Bravo Ashton!