I hope you’ve all had a peaceful Christmas and that 2026 brings you good health and happiness. Welcome to my Weekend Read blog, where I’ll be featuring a book, and author, every week. My book this week is The Pledge by Rosie Howard. So grab a cuppa, get cosy and let’s find out more about the book, and Rosie.
About the book
Three women, a promise – and a year that changes everything…
Cash-starved, hungover, lard-arsed January is the graveyard of good intentions, but this commitment – made on a snowy New Year’s Day after the first sea-swim of the year – is a pledge worth keeping. But will promises be enough, as secrets unfurl…?
LILY (28) – has been sacked from her ‘perfect job’. Can she – should she? – rescue her career? Also, why is her grandmother, MARGOT, setting her up with randoms when romance is the last thing on her mind?
JILL (50) – married her first boyfriend thirty years ago. Now her oldest child LILY is an adult and her youngest is off to Uni…who has she become? And has she left it too late to close the chasm in her marriage?
MARGOT (75) –is gloomily contemplating old age, but – when illness floors her– it turns out life is precious after all. Staring down death, MARGOT realises it’s time to come clean…
Can three strong women really find a new way to live, in just one year? Or – as a devastating secret comes to light – will Christmas mark the destruction of family bonds, leaving them all at sea…?
Buy Link
Read an extract
Chapter One
LILY
They sat, as they always did, on the shingle bank just above the high tide mark, gazing at the foam-crested waves of the gunmetal-grey sea, stretching out to the horizon. After the initial cold shock, the water had felt warmer than the air and they had all shivered anew as they tiptoed and winced their way back over the stones to their clothes.
Lily sighed with contentment. Bracing exercise, a beautiful view plus her Mum and her adored grandmother, Mama – two of her most favourite people in the world. Here they all were together on the first day of a brand-new year. What could be better?
Jill yawned loudly.
‘Late night?’ asked Margot. She shot her daughter-in-law a beady look. ‘Been tripping the light fantastic with a scantily clad man in some seedy Havenbury nightclub to see in the new year? Please say you have.’
‘Good grief, no,’ Jill looked shocked.
Lily thought of her dad, scantily clad, and shuddered – although the cold didn’t help. As if Mum would pick up some random bloke? What a thought!
‘I was up late waiting for Oscar to tell me when he needed picking up from the party he was at,’ explained Jill, stifling another yawn.
Margot tutted. ‘Hasn’t he heard of Uber? And what time did you go and chauffeur the man-child, dare I even ask?’
‘Oh, he stayed over in the end,’ Jill reassured her.
Lily was pretty sure that was code for, “he let me know in the middle of the night he didn’t need a lift after all”. ‘He’s such a brat,’ she said.
Jill sighed. ‘Don’t call your brother that,’ she remonstrated mildly. ‘I’d have done the same for you. What about the time you were at that music festival in Cornwall, and we came to get you in the middle of the night because your tent blew away?’
It was true, Lily had to admit. Jill had had her children young, and Lily knew she and her brother Oscar were still Jill’s babies. Oscar was a total brat though. He had always got away with loads more stuff than she did.
‘And how about you,’ Margot fired at her granddaughter, ‘what fancy, posh new year bash were you boozing at last night?’
Lily burrowed her hands into her pockets. ‘I,’ she declared smugly, ‘was in bed by ten o’clock. Parties are for morons.’
In truth, she hadn’t been invited anywhere. The only parties she ever went to were business networking events with everyone making one glass of warm white wine last all evening and vying with each other to see how many business cards they could hand out.
‘Heresy,’ Margot declared, ‘at your age, you need to get a move on…’
‘What do you mean, “at my age”?’ Lily protested. She was nearly thirty, but so what? She was more grown up than Margot in many ways, and there was also no way she – Lily – was going to end up in a boring groundhog-day marriage like her parents’, descending into total tedium just a few years after chasing some ridiculous romantic dream. Everlasting love was nothing but an illusion. Everyone knew that.
Lily looked over at her grandmother in fond exasperation. Margot was still in the green, heavily pilled bobble hat she always swam in. It was pulled down low over her ears, covering most of her white hair and contrasting oddly with her thick, purple candlewick dressing gown. With her tall, rangy figure and appetite for dramatic clothes, Margot was the most elegant woman Lily knew, but when she was doing her early morning sea-swim she didn’t care what she looked like. And it showed.
Lily, by contrast, was muffled in the new camouflage-pattern dry robe she had treated herself to that Christmas. It was pricey, but why not? On her salary she could afford it. She held her hot chocolate in one hand and raked her short blonde hair back off her bare face with the other before plunging it back into the fleecy pink pocket to warm it up.
They must be mad, swimming on New Year’s Day.
Was that a little flurry of sleet she saw? She should make a move, because, if she was snowed in anywhere, it had better be the office with those sales targets to sort out before the meeting tomorrow. Bank holidays were for wimps and slackers and – when it came to work – Lily was always on task, New Year’s Day or not.
Jill yawned again helplessly as she pushed the thermos of hot chocolate down into the shingle to keep it upright and reached into her bag for the squirty cream. When it was her turn to do the post-swim hot drink, Jill could always be relied on to bring hot chocolate, sweet, thick and velvety smooth with a swirl of cream on top and even a scattering of mini marshmallows, just as she used to make it for Lily when she was a child.
She was a great mum in all those ways, Lily thought, narrowing her eyes against the steam as she took a deep, heavenly swig. She only wished she would put herself first occasionally – she should do something with her life – especially now that even bratty Oscar was big enough and ugly enough to look after himself.
She watched as Jill popped a mini marshmallow in her mouth and gulped a mouthful of chocolate, ending up with a blob of cream on her nose. It showed up stark white on skin flayed red by the biting wind. She needed a decent facial moisturiser. Dad would never make a fuss if Mum splashed out, but she wouldn’t. If it was spending money on pretty clothes, or a really good haircut, her response was always the same; it was “too extravagant”, “mutton dressed as lamb” and “who would people think she was doing it for?”. Lily knew this lack of vanity perplexed and annoyed Margot, who adored fashion and never needed an excuse to indulge.
Maybe it would be different if her mum had a bit of her own money, Lily pondered, not for the first time. She could look for a job – which would do wonders for her self-esteem – but Jill had always shyly declined to apply for anything, citing the need to look after Dad and Oscar. Lily suspected the real reason was her Mum was convinced no employer would want her. She felt her mother’s gaze on her and – aware her brow must be knitted in worry – she consciously relaxed it and threw Jill a reassuring smile.
‘Resolutions!’ announced Margot. ‘Mine’s to live this year like it’s my last.’
‘Don’t say that Mum,’ said Jill, aghast.
‘Too late, I just did.’
‘But you’ll tempt fate. What if it is your last?’
‘So what? I’m pretty old. Statistically I’m reasonably likely to die during the next twelve months. Nobody knows. And even if I don’t die, I’m getting awfully decrepit,’ she went on. ‘I need to misbehave while I’ve still got the energy. What’s yours, anyhow?’ she asked Jill.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Jill said, wearily. ‘Sort out the loft, maybe?’ With nearly thirty years’ worth of clutter – including all the children’s toys and clothes she couldn’t bear to throw away – she was going to need more like a decade than a year.
‘If you must,’ said Margot, unimpressed, ‘but what about exciting plans – got any of them?’
‘Well, I suppose it’s our thirtieth wedding anniversary this year.’
‘Yay!’ said Lily, feeling guilty for not having realised. ‘There you go! You and Dad should have a party. Invite everyone who was at your wedding. That would be amazing!’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Jill. ‘There’ll be “then and now” comparisons. I’m not sure they’d be terribly flattering in my case.’
‘Thirty years, though! That’s something to celebrate,’ Lily persevered. ‘And you didn’t celebrate your twenty-fifth, so you have to do this one. Plus, you’re beautiful. Really, you are, but – I don’t know – maybe it’s a good excuse for a makeover. It could be fun! I’ll do it with you. Nails? Hair? Clothes? Talking of which, remind me, what did you get for Christmas? Anything glamorous to wear?’
‘Well, your Dad gave me this,’ Jill said, waving at the beige, roll-neck jumper that made her look bustily matronly but – in every other way – even more invisible. ‘And, of course, you and Oscar gave me that lovely bath oil and the gorgeous posh box of chocolates. I’ve eaten far too many of them already,’ she added, guiltily, screwing the top back on the thermos. ‘I need to get back,’ she said, standing up with a huff of effort. ‘George will be wanting his breakfast.’
‘Let him make his own,’ declared Margot. ‘Also, you can’t go yet. Lily hasn’t told us what her resolution is.’
‘Mine’s a good one,’ said Lily, stepping up obediently. ‘I think – I hope – I’m going to be offered a seat on the board. You both know it’s what I’ve been working for since forever ago,’ she said, her eyes blazing, staring unseeing to the horizon. ‘So, yeah, maybe not straight away, but – by the business year end in March – the increase in sales is going to be so amazing they won’t be able to refuse.’
‘God knows why you even want entry to that funny little club of misogynist willy-wavers,’ muttered Margot. ‘I think I met your boss once. A squat, balding, flat-headed troll with terrible halitosis. Ghastly man. “Malcolm” was it? I forget…’
‘It’s Brian actually, but – yeah – that’s definitely him,’ said Lily.
‘They always sound like such a misogynist bunch,’ Margot went on. ‘They don’t deserve you. Why don’t you go and work for somebody who recognises women have brains?’
Lily sighed. She had been hoping for a bit more enthusiasm. ‘I’ll convert them to my feminist ways yet,’ she declared. ‘You wait and see.’
‘And what about life? Love? Marriage? Children?’ Margot persisted. ‘Dating, at least, would be a good resolution, wouldn’t it?’
‘Ha!’ exclaimed Lily, getting up to leave. ‘I need a man like a hole in the head, thanks very much,’ she said, brushing sand off her hands, briskly. ‘Good swim, ladies. Thanks for your company.’
In companionable silence, they trudged up the steep slope to within sight of the car park.
‘Noooo!’ wailed Lily as they looked over at the cars. Even from thirty yards away, she could see that the front offside tyre was completely flat. ‘I thought I felt something with the steering when I turned into the car park, it must have been deflating even then.’ She pulled out her phone. No signal, of course. She groaned in frustration. ‘What am I going to do now? I can’t even call the breakdown service.’
‘Let’s not turn a drama into a crisis,’ said Margot bracingly. ‘You get in out of the wind and sit tight. I’ll go back home and call in the cavalry.’
‘Thank you,’ said Lily, tutting impatiently. She should be heading straight off to the office. God knows how long her breakdown service would take to send a van on New Year’s Day. They were probably all off nursing their hangovers or dealing with broken down cars heading home after the holidays. This was all she needed.
She huffed in frustration, then – realising she was being ungrateful – she shot Margot an apologetic look. ‘It’s the AA I think,’ she said, Whatsapping her registration number to Margot’s phone. ‘Or – if they don’t seem to have heard of me – it’ll be the RAC,’ she called after her. ‘Thanks Mama!’
Margot waved her phone reassuringly as the notification beeped and climbed into her car. ‘Never fear, help will be here before you know it.’
She drove off with a confident wave and Jill – once she had established she had nothing useful to contribute to her daughter’s predicament – apologetically drove off too, muttering about George’s breakfast.
Thank you for dropping by to talk to us today, Rosie. Is your writing ever inspired by your family or real life incidents?
Ha! That is an iiiinteresting question because the first book in the Havenbury series, ‘The Homecoming’ centres around a huge and weird incident that happened to me when I was eighteen. It changed the course of my life and has haunted me, mainly because I had unanswered – and unanswerable – questions about what happened that night… Writing ‘The Homecoming’ allowed me to work through a lot of that and it also gave me a chance to write the ‘Happily Ever After’ that helped me come to terms with the mystery of it all in real life.
‘The Pledge’, which is book four in the Havenbury series (but they can all be read alone) also has a secret at the heart of it – a secret that threatens to damage the love my three main female characters have for each other. I adore the Havenbury setting, which is in a little country town remarkably like the town of Arundel near me, sitting on the river, just below the Sussex Downs and very near the sea. It is a beautiful spot, which is so inspiring. As well as places, I love to write about food, nature and culture, but – more than anything – I need to write about love in all its forms including romantic love, of course. The three women in ‘The Pledge’ face challenges that I have definitely experienced myself too. It was fun writing Lily’s horrible boss and describing how she lost her job, as that absolutely happened to me! Luckily, being a novelist, I am now self-employed, which has the huge benefit I can never be sacked again.
What inspired you to write this book?
My three fabulous female characters, who are grandmother, mother and daughter and also really good friends, are what inspired me to write this book about how – with love – we can achieve all our heart’s desires, even the things we didn’t know we wanted. I read once that each character in a novel has a thing they want and a thing they need. Often, they do not consciously know about the latter. My character Lily represents that well as she learns being successful at work can’t fill the void caused by not letting anyone into her life romantically. She realises she is lonely and she has a chance to change all that, having a brilliant, fulfilling career, supported by a loving romantic partner, but she is so set in her ways, it is nerve-wracking to see whether she can make the change. I also enjoyed writing Jill who – like so many of us – lost her spark with her husband after all the years bringing up their children – and then facing the empty nest. Margot, the grandmother, is bored and craves adventure. She was brilliant to write because she is outrageous, and of course she is the one who proposes – on New Year’s Day that they all make a pledge to change their lives for the better.
It takes courage to change, but we all face times when we need to do that, and I really hope readers will relate to my characters and their story.
What are you writing at the moment?
I plan to finish another Rosie Howard book in 2026, and I have another Poppy Alexander book coming out in the summer of 2026. Currently, I am working on my Creative Writing MA (I know! Better late than never) and enjoying writing something completely different to anything I have done before. If it ever sees the light of day, I’ll let you know…
The Havenbury series sounds fascinating, Rosie. I hope it soars. And lots of luck with your Creative Writing MA.
About Rosie
Rosie – who also writes as Poppy Alexander – has had eight books published to date. She came joint second in the Good Housekeeping Orion Novel Writing Award, has been translated into several other languages, and had novels optioned for TV/Film. Rosie is a proud member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and is working towards an MA in Creative Writing at Chichester University.
She takes an anthropological interest in family, friends and life in West Sussex (think, The Archers crossed with Twin Peaks). This provides lots of entertaining material although any resemblance between her fictional characters and real life never ceases to amaze her when it is pointed out. You can catch up with her as PoppyAlexanderBooks on Facebook and Instagram where she is mooching around trying to find excuses not to get on with her writing so please come and say hello.
Finally, if you have enjoyed a Rosie Howard/Poppy Alexander book do please take a minute to leave a short review on Amazon. It truly makes all the difference.
Contact Links
The previous three books in the Havenbury series
Find out more about them here: Amazon Author Page
Karen King 