A Promise to Keep
As a frightened child on the orphan train, Nora Barlow found comfort in an unexpected friendship. Now the new schoolteacher in Hazelton, Iowa, Nora has built her life around one guiding promise: finding her sister again. A spotless reputation and careful choices are the only path she trusts.
Now a physician still working to fully be accepted in Hazelton, Dr. Briant Caldwell never imagines that the new teacher is the very girl who once shared his journey west on the orphan train.
When small keepsakes awaken memories of their childhood connection, their friendship rekindles and deepens. But in a town wary of scandal, even a gentle courtship carries risk. Will the promise that defined her past keep Nora from the love waiting in her present?
a Promise to keep is available august 1, 2026
Tara: So, Julia! I would love to hear your Meet Cue for A Promise to Keep. When, where, and how did inspiration first strike?
Julia: My parents must have belonged to several mailing book clubs because I was always finding book compilations from Reader’s Digest and Guideposts in the house. One of those books was The Orphan Train Trilogy by Jane Peart. I picked that up at ten years old, and I can’t count how many times I reread it over the years. The Orphan Train era fascinated me, but I didn’t seriously start considering writing a novel about it until 2019.
Tara: It sounds like a topic that interested you for a long time! As writers, we often end up having to do research on a topic we’re not super familiar with during the course of writing. Was there a research rabbit hole you had to delve into while drafting A Promise to Keep?
Julia: Hole? Try holes, haha. Not only did I need to find facts about the orphan train itself (most journals came from the 1920s but I was setting my story in the 1880s) but then I also needed to know other historical things in the timeline that would possibly affect my characters in some way: medical terms, political views, travel, school settings, etc. Most of those things only got a sentence or two in the final version. I spent a lot of time on the Internet Archive and got a lot of books through inter-library loan.
Tara: That is a lot of research! And historicals definitely take more time to craft because of that. You definitely have to be motivated to learn about the time period. So, I'm curious here: More than half of my novels started out with a working title that I later changed. Did A Promise to Keep have a working title?
Julia: Actually, no. I started with the concept early on that promises were extremely important to Nora and having them broken really scarred her. So, A Promise to Keep has always been the driving theme of the story.
Tara: That was evident throughout. The first chapter ends with a broken promise, and it really sticks with Nora. She is such a compelling character. She reminds me of a cross between Laura Ingalls and Anne of Green Gables. So, do you have a favorite character in the story? And why?
Julia: I have two favorites (besides the main characters). First is Doc, the man who raised Briant. He was so much fun to write. Mischievous man with a penchant for sweets but still grieving the loss of his wife. The other is little Edie, one of Nora’s students. Starts out shy but then is an absolute chatterbox once she feels comfortable.
Tara: Oh, I love Doc. Probably my favorite, too! He always made me laugh, and I sort of wish I could bake him some cookies just to hear him sweet-talk me. So, what was the most challenging or difficult part of writing this story?
Julia: In the beginning, I wanted to tell the story in chronological order, beginning with how both Nora and Briant ended up on the train, being separated, then reunited after ten years. But my beta readers pointed out that it felt like two different stories being told. My stubborn little neurospicy brain finally understood, and the manuscript went through a major revision.
Tara: Telling stories out of order is always a challenge, but I think you tackled it very well! What are you most proud of in this story?
Julia: The fact that I followed through with it all. Feels pretty good to hold a finished book in my hands!
Tara: Well, congratulations on your debut. It's definitely something to be proud of, and I hope your readers will come away with the same sense of wonder that you did all those years ago when you learned about the orphan trains. Thank you so much for chatting with me about your book!