Based on a true story.

Krakow, 1939. 19-year-olds Helena and Maria could not be more different: Helena is spirited and rebellious, Maria quiet and studious. Yet over time they become inseparable. They vow that nothing—neither love interests nor different religious beliefs—will ever come between them.

But when the Nazis invade Poland, their world is shattered. Helena is forced into a ghetto, a high brick wall isolating the once inseparable pair.

Maria witnesses Jewish families being taken from the ghetto by trains leaving for Auschwitz. She is faced with an agonizing choice—stay safe in her sheltered existence or risk everything to save her best friend.

In a frantic race against time, Maria contacts the underground resistance, sending secret messages to Helena, and learns to use her charm to lure and deceive Nazi soldiers. When she learns of the coming liquidation of the ghetto, her desperate rescue plan seems more like a suicide mission. How far will she go for the sake of friendship?

From the author of Under the Floorboards comes Maria’s Promise, based on the remarkable true story of Maria Nowak, recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. Celebrating the power of the human spirit, this tear-jerking WWII historical fiction novel captures the essence of true friendship during history’s darkest hour.