The Promise: A Novel (Booker Prize Winner)
WINNER OF THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE
On her deathbed, Rachel Swart makes a promise to Salome, the family's Black maid. This promise will divide the family--especially her children: Anton, the golden boy; Astrid, whose beauty is her power; and the youngest, Amor, whose life is shaped by feelings of guilt.
Reunited by four...show more
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Community Reviews
A heavy read. I gave it a gallant effort but I skipped a few funerals to get to the ending. Writing style was too all of the place for me and I did not feel very connected to book's characters. An examination of South Africa's Apartheid system over decades within one family's experiences was not my cup of tea.
The Promise is Damon Galguts 9th novel
Please read through all the comments as with our meetings we start with the low and move onto the high. My favourite quote from one of you was that the book "was haunted by unmet promise"
Rachel Swart is in the final decline of a terminal cancer when she extracts a promise from her husband, Manie: he agrees to give their maid Salome the deed to the Lombard Place, a small house on the family’s farm. It is ...read more
A story set in South Africa - tells of an Afrikaans family pre/post apartheid. Some pretty vile characters, but an insight to a particular mindset. The end is worth it.
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