The Promise: A Novel (Booker Prize Winner) (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
I just finished and loved this remarkable Booker Prize winning novel from South African author Dalmon Galgut. On her deathbed, Rachel Swart makes her husband promise that he will give their family's Black maid, Salome, the home on their family farm in which she has resided in for decades. When this promise is repeatedly broken, the effects on the surviving three children are impossible to deny. Told through constantly flowing perspectives, (I'm still blown away by how skillfully Galgut does this) and beautiful, poetic language, this is the reckoning of one family and the country they call home.
— SamanthaDescription
WINNER OF THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE
A modern family saga written in gorgeous prose by three-time Booker Prize-shortlisted author Damon Galgut.
Haunted by an unmet promise, the Swart family loses touch after the death of their matriarch. Adrift, the lives of the three siblings move separately through the uncharted waters of South Africa; Anton, the golden boy who bitterly resents his life's unfulfilled potential; Astrid, whose beauty is her power; and the youngest, Amor, whose life is shaped by a nebulous feeling of guilt.
Reunited by four funerals over three decades, the dwindling family reflects the atmosphere of its country--one of resentment, renewal, and, ultimately, hope. The Promise is an epic drama that unfurls against the unrelenting march of national history, sure to please current fans and attract many new ones.
"Simply: you must read it."--Claire Messud, Harper's Magazine
About the Author
Damon Galgut was born in Pretoria. His 2003 novel The Good Doctor won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region) and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In a Strange Room (Europa, 2010) was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In 2021, Galgut won the Booker Prize for The Promise (Europa, 2021). In 2013, Galgut was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa.