A Fateful Promise: The Kinsella Chronicles Book One
Product Details
- Format:
- Paperback / softbackHardback
- ISBN:
- 97810683608939781068360817
- Published:
- 10th Aug 20257th Aug 2025
- Publisher:
- Marble Hill Publishers
- Dimensions:
- 384 pages - 229 x 152
- Categories:
Product Description
A Fateful Promise
Ireland 1925. Nine-year-old Philip Kinsella lives with his parents, eccentric uncles, terrifying grandmother and an alcoholic butler in the imposing castle of Lissanore. An unexpected visitor arrives from Spain with her daughter Constanza. Philip, whose romantic imagination is governed by stories of derring-do, pledges himself to be her knight, a promise that will dominate his life.
Philip’s youthful existence is enlivened by the powerful presence of another visitor, his cousin, Nicholas Kinsella, a dashing cavalry officer from the Austrian branch of the family who becomes a major influence in his life.
Gripping, humorous and richly entertaining, A Fateful Promise is the first part in a major literary undertaking, covering eighty dramatic years of European history. It is a vivid evocation of a distant world that Gerald Warner brings alive in all its brilliance and compelling detail.
- This novel is a remarkable work of imagination.
- Book Two in the Kinsella Chronicles, The Cross of Burgundy, takes Philip to the Spanish Civil War, when savage conflict engulfs Constanza’s homeland.
The story behind
I was asked recently what it was like saying “no” to so many aspirant authors. I certainly don’t believe that “everyone has a book in them” but if my inbox is anything to go by, there are a lot of people who believe that. Almost all of them get a quick turn-down.
But then, out of the blue, you get that extraordinary moment when you open a manuscript and you are immediately drawn into another world - in the case of fiction it’s a world of the imagination. The sheer pleasure of entering that world is worth a thousand rejections. Why? Because one is in contact with true literary talent. That’s when the answer has to be ‘yes.”
That happened to me recently when I was sent the manuscript of A Fateful Promise. The author, Gerald Warner, is a successful journalist and non-fiction author whose first novel this is. What’s more, it’s Book One in a series of six novels entitled The Kinsella Chronicles. Put simply, it is a gigantic literary endeavour, reliving the history of Europe in the 20th century through the eyes of a young Irishman, Philip Kinsella.
It is, in my judgement and in that of a growing number of people who have read the proof, a very significant achievement. A Fateful Promise, which opens in 1925 when Philip is nine years old, is a witty comedy of manners, a dramatic love story and an exciting tale of adventure.
Gerald Warner examines themes that to younger generations may seem unfamiliar. Why? Because this is ahistorical novel that reflects the values of the times the author is recreating for our enjoyment. Do these values continue to have relevance today? That is the central question at the heart of this brilliant book - and one that will be continued to be examined in the future.
Reading this manuscript moved and involved me in a way few novels have done.That is why I couldn’t possibly say “no.” Far from it - when I turned the last page I shouted a very loud “yes!” This novel is special. Read itand see if I’m right.
A Fateful Promise by Gerald Warner. Book One in The Kinsella Chronicles.
ISBN 97810683608017
Hardback 384 pages,
Publication 7 August 2025
RRP £22.00
Reviews
“Elegiac, evocative and beautifully written, A Fateful Promise has echoes of Evelyn Waugh in its tightly-observed description of a world we have lost. A remarkable debut of a series that will undoubtedly be a landmark literary achievement.”
Andrew Roberts, author, Churchill: Walking with Destiny
"An enthralling picture of a lost tribe... who had to keep faith in themselves, because nobody else cared. I found this book both informative and moving."
Julian Fellowes, creator, Downton Abbey
“I have just finished The Kinsella Chronicles Book One - can't wait to read Book Two!”
Lady Antonia Fraser
“In A Fateful Promise Gerald Warner gives us the first volume in what promises to be a wonderful saga. His account of life in an Irish castle intrigues and entertains.”
Alexander McCall Smith