BookBrowse Reviews Promise by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

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As the Civil Rights Movement spreads to 1950s Salt Point, Maine, two sisters struggle to get their bearings in a world that devalues them.

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As news of rebellion, civil disobedience, and struggles for freedom by Black people across the country reaches the small rural town of Salt Point, Maine, in 1957, the predominantly white townsfolk begin to view the Black Kindred family, who had previously been perceived as different, but still docile and non-threatening, with distrust. The peaceful and loving world that the Kindred parents have constructed around thirteen-year-old Hyacinth ("Cinthy") and her fifteen-year-old sister Ezra is altered when these townsfolk act on their festering suspicion and latent hatred. Rachel Eliza Griffiths' debut novel, Promise, follows the Kindred sisters as they navigate a world full of limitations.

The narration opens with an idyllic scene, as Cinthy and Ezra prepare to enjoy the last day of summer before a new school session starts. Cinthy's excitement is evident in her observant and hopeful narration: "More than anything, we prayed that the air would remain mild for as long as possible, mid-October even, so that we could retain some of our summer independence, free to roam the land we knew and loved."

The mood rapidly sours, however, after she insists on tagging along with Ezra and her best friend, Ruby Scaggs, who have a secret plan to explore their newfound womanhood and changing bodies. Cinthy, desperate not to be left out of something she perceives will qualify her to continue hanging out with the older girls, even though she hasn't yet started menstruating, is stunned when their intimate exploration illuminates a fact that none of the girls can ignore anymore: Ruby is white, and the Kindred girls are Black, drawing to the fore doubts over a future where Ruby and Ezra remain best friends.

Griffiths' juxtaposition of Ruby and the Kindreds reveals the significance of the racial realities that threaten their relationship. Although Ruby suffers from parental neglect and constant mockery from the town due to her poverty, she still benefits from the privileges of being white. The Kindred sisters, by contrast, are loved, well cared for, and comprehensively educated, even as they are forced to live on the fringes of the predominantly white society. The relationship between the Kindreds and the only other Black family in Salt Point, the Junketts, makes bare the isolation endured by Blacks in Maine. Naturally, they flock to each other and become as close as if they were one family. A mixture of happy and tragic circumstances only strengthens this bond, as Cinthy observes the maturing of Ezra, who's developed romantic feelings for the Junketts' firstborn, Ernest, to the amusement of the adults.

Despite this fragile normalcy, racism, although claimed by some townspeople to be nonexistent in Maine, is evident in the frequent taunting drive-bys by the town's sheriff and unwarranted arrests increasingly used to harass and intimidate the Junketts. The novel utilizes flashbacks to provide more depth to the characters, especially the older ones; readers are introduced to Mr. Kindred's parents and grandparents and their contributions to the struggle for freedom, as well as Mrs. Kindred's estranged mother and her colorful life. Flashbacks also elucidate the troubled inner workings of the mind of Ruby's abusive father. Griffiths presents a well-rounded cast of characters with thought-provoking backstories.

Promise beautifully captures how teenagers become more aware of everything around them and wonder about their place in the world, especially in Ezra's nagging discomfort, angry rebellious moods, and suspicious looks at Ruby, who she begins to view as just as untrustworthy as the town's other white people. The prose is heart-rending and detailed in its description of racism, which eventually becomes violent, targeting the Junketts and Kindreds and changing their lives forever. Rachel Eliza Griffiths expertly tells a story of racial tension and discrimination, self-exploration, and the simple right to exist amid the spread of the Civil Rights Movement in Maine.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in August 2023, and has been updated for the September 2024 edition. Click here to go to this issue.