Eli's Promise

A Novel

By: Ronald H. Balson

Narrated by: Fred Berman

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

"National Jewish Book Award winner Ron Balson returns triumphantly with Eli’s Promise, a captivating saga of the Holocaust and its aftermath spanning decades and continents. Readers will not be able to put this book down, but will turn the pages compulsively with heart in throat, eager to learn the fate of the Rosen family. Balson’s meticulous historical detail, vivid prose and unforgettable characters further solidify his place among the most esteemed writers of historical fiction today."
-Pam Jenoff, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Lost Girls of Paris

A "fixer" in a Polish town during World War II, his betrayal of a Jewish family, and a search for justice 25 years later—by the winner of the National Jewish Book Award.

Eli's Promise is a masterful work of historical fiction spanning three eras—Nazi-occupied Poland, the American Zone of post-war Germany, and Chicago at the height of the Vietnam War. Award-winning author Ronald H. Balson explores the human cost of war, the mixed blessings of survival, and the enduring strength of family bonds.

1939: Eli Rosen lives with his wife Esther and their young son in the Polish town of Lublin, where his family owns a construction company. As a consequence of the Nazi occupation, Eli’s company is Aryanized, appropriated and transferred to Maximilian Poleski—an unprincipled profiteer who peddles favors to Lublin’s subjugated residents. An uneasy alliance is formed; Poleski will keep the Rosen family safe if Eli will manage the business. Will Poleski honor his promise or will their relationship end in betrayal and tragedy?

1946: Eli resides with his son in a displaced persons camp in Allied-occupied Germany hoping for a visa to America. His wife has been missing since the war. One man is sneaking around the camps selling illegal visas; might he know what has happened to her?

1965: Eli rents a room in Albany Park, Chicago. He is on a mission. With patience, cunning, and relentless focus, he navigates unfamiliar streets and dangerous political backrooms, searching for the truth. Powerful and emotional, Ronald H. Balson's Eli's Promise is a rich, rewarding novel of World War II and a husband’s quest for justice.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2020 Ronald H. Balson (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

The author of Eli’s Promise did it again ... loved his most recent book, that grabbed me from the start!

I have read all of ( historical fiction) books and they have been unputdownable!
I would highly recommend his newest book!

Learning Something New

I’ve read many books about the Holocaust and didn’t want to read yet another one. However, this one taught me just how much the world gained from the monumental stupidity and evil plan to kill all Jews. If the Nazis had concentrated on winning the war, instead of murdering Jews, we’d all be living in their hell today. Never forget their sacrifice.

Balson Never Disappoints

You will love Eli and his drive to survive and move forward on his promise.

Ended too soon

What a good book. The history. The real. The weaving of the timeline. Excellent stuff.

Love the story.

Ballon’s historical stories are great. The story moved a little slowly. Narration was excellent, with accents and gender voice differences !

Stop the book few times cry return

Just at a loss for words. A novel that grips your heart strings and doesn’t let go. A satisfying read that delivers the emotional response as Once We We’re Brothers.

Similar Story

This immediately reminded me of Once We Were Brothers , a story of revenge and retribution. Unlike the earlier book, the once Nazi sympathizer did not get his eventual full prosecution.

So so

I didn’t know if I was reading historical fiction , a romance or mystery novel. I thought there would be more on the DP camps, which I was interested in learning more about as my mother and grandparents were there after the war. The dialogue was amateurish and needed to be more tightly edited. Even so, I continued to listen until the end.

Balson saves us from the full horror

mostly through the shifts in time. We are not forced to suffer as he did (along with so many others) in real time. He gives us respites by jumping ahead in time, so we know that at least this or that person survived. The betrayals and deaths come up slowly, with breathing space, rather than inexorably goose-stepping into our homes in the middle of the night. The horror is still there, but we are saved from its full force. But it is also about how we as people sit back and allow small wrongs to continue, until finally, there is no end to the inhumanity, and we don't understand how we could have arrived here.

The ending is a bit unsatisfying for those of us who want retribution and justice. Maybe that is the point. Horrible true life becomes a beautiful tale.

The narration is superb, voices and accents, all wonderful.

What a journey through recent history.

I loved Eli and his family. Connecting the war the DP camps and the United States through the Vietnamese war. All the lives lost in those decades because of the greedy men, so tragic!