

The effect is utterly compelling Patrick Gale Its indignation at its morally bankrupt central characters is leavened with languid comedy, as though Galgut had collaborated with Tennessee Williams. Fuelled by sex and death, this is a South African Gotterdammerung charting a white family's inexorable decline from significance and power. If possible, The Promise packs yet more of a punch than Galgut's previous novels. Galgut extends his extraordinary corpus with a rich story of family, history, and grief Kirkus This tour-de-force unleashes a searing portrait of a damaged family and a troubled country in need of healing Publisher's Weekly (Starred review) ** A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, DAILY TELEGRAPH, i AND NEW STATESMAN ** Read more Can you ever escape the repercussions of a broken promise? Salome was to be given her own house, her own land.yet somehow, that vow is carefully ignored.Īs each decade passes, and the family assemble again, one question hovers over them. The younger generation, Anton and Amor, detest everything the family stand for - not least their treatment of the Black woman who has worked for them her whole life. On a farm outside Pretoria, the Swarts are gathering for Ma's funeral. 'A masterpiece - a moving, brilliantly told family epic' Elizabeth Day A spectacular demonstration of how the novel can make us see and think afresh' Booker Judges, 2021 Winner of the Booker Prize 2021 - discover the powerful story of a family in crisis.ĭiscover the Sunday Times bestselling story of a family in crisis.
