Orion imprint Seven Dials is set to publish the true-life story of Renee Salt, a ninety-five-year-old Holocaust survivor, on 13th February 2025 in Hardback, eBook and audio.
Beth Eynon, Editorial Director for Seven Dials, acquired UK & Commonwealth excluding Canadian rights from Kate Burke at Blake Friedmann in a pre-empt. US rights have also sold to Alcove Press and Canadian rights at auction to Simon & Schuster.
Born Rywka Ruchla Berkowicz in Poland in 1929, Renee was just ten years old when World War II brought horror to her doorstep. In A MOTHER’S PROMISE, Renee tells her story from invasion to liberation, as she was moved from ghetto to camp, with one constant – her mother by her side. Every day for six years, mother and daughter were tangled together in hell. From ghettos to slave labour, Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen, Renee knows that she is only alive today because of her mother. Her memoir is a love letter to her mother, eighty years in the making, and the Research Center at Auschwitz–Birkenau State Museum has described it as ‘part of the legacy so graciously left for the next generation to come’.
Renee met journalist and bestselling author Kate Thompson on Kate’s podcast, From the Library With Love, and chose Kate to help her tell her story.
Renee Salt said: ‘Having a book published at ninety-five feels like a great achievement. Nearly eighty years since my liberation from Bergen-Belsen, a place that you can’t imagine even in your worst nightmares, I am finally telling my story in full. It has been a hard but rewarding experience. I had plenty of sleepless nights reliving it, but it was worth it to leave behind a permanent record of my experience of the Holocaust.’
Kate Thompson said: ‘Helping a Holocaust survivor to write their story comes with huge and heavy responsibility, but being with Renee is like looking into an abyss and finding a glimmer – a beautiful and vulnerable girl who survived against the odds and, eighty years on from her liberation, now needs to tell her story. Travelling to Poland and Germany to retrace Renee's footsteps only intensified my admiration for this remarkable woman.’
Agent Kate Burke said: ‘It’s such a privilege to be working on this project with Renee and Kate. I can’t wait for the fantastic Seven Dials team to bring Renee’s testimony to readers’.
Beth Eynon said: ‘I could not be more proud to be publishing Renee’s memoir here at Seven Dials. Working alongside Kate and Renee on sharing her story has been an honour, and I know readers will be captivated by her life story, and her mother’s courage.’
About Renee Salt
Renee Salt is a ninety-five-year-old Holocaust survivor. Born Rywka Ruchla Berkowicz in Poland in 1929, she was just 10 years old when World War II brought horror to her doorstep. After surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau, Renee was liberated from Bergen-Belsen in 1945. After moving to Paris, Renee met her husband Charles, a member of the British Army, and part of the the liberating forces at Bergen-Belsen. They married in 1949 and lived in North London, having two children and five grandchildren.
About Kate Thompson
Kate Thompson is a journalist and bestselling writer. As well as being passionate about capturing lost voices and untold social histories, Kate’s also a library campaigner. Her 100 libraries project celebrates the richness and complexity of librarians work and the vital role of libraries in our communities. Alongside her journalism and writing, Kate is also a podcaster and recently launched her own podcast, From the Library With Love.
Visit Kate’s website.