Eloquent and effusive, telling a tale of love that is powerful enough to soften the hardest of hearts.
Jonnie Ramsey Brown shares an impassioned account that will touch readers on every conceivable level in her shattering memoir, You Promised to Do No Harm. The title stems from the failure of a Florida medical team to abide by their own code of ethics while caring for Thomas Brown, a failure that results in his untimely death. A tragedy by every measure, the medical misjudgments are compounded by the weight of implicit and explicit bias. In an effort to bring these abhorrent circumstances to light, the author has committed to paper her devastating first-hand account. Despite the heartbreak, much of the book revolves around the enduring relationship of this remarkable couple. Spanning several decades, Jonnie Ramsey Brown’s words offer readers a chance to watch a one-of-a-kind love story unfold while observing a woman muster extraordinary strength in the face of harrowing loss.
This true story is divided into parts that feel as distinct as night does from day. The first section is eloquent and effusive, telling a tale of love that is powerful enough to soften the hardest of hearts. Here the storytelling shines, capturing the couple’s undeniable and consuming chemistry with vigor and energy. Just when you get so caught up in the romance that you forget this is not fiction, some handsome photographs of young Thomas are shown, bringing everything back to reality. And that reality is a bitter pill to swallow since you know what lies ahead. In the second dramatic section, details of Thomas’s rapid decline are recalled with painful precision, amounting to a condensed version of a vibrant life stolen from the world. Finally, The Fight is a meticulous recreation of the intense courtroom scenes that bring needed attention to the cruelty and injustice the Brown family suffered.
It’s impossible to imagine how difficult it is to walk in Jonnie Ramsey Brown’s shoes, but her sincerity and steady voice give readers a potent taste. From the moment Thomas and Jonnie meet to the despair of letting go, the author builds her case for how unjust the physical rending of two loving soulmates truly is. Without question, the acts of racism are tough to read, but it is so important for these stories to be brought to light, and the author does so with reassuring poise and confidence The legal system may have faltered and the medical professionals might have broken their promise, but this tenacious woman will never stop telling her husband’s compelling story in You Promised to Do No Harm.
