The Promise
Book description
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…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Promise as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
If The Promise wasn’t the winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, I probably wouldn’t have read past the first chapter because the author shifts point of view willy-nilly from one character to another in a very confusing manner.
This doesn’t sound like I loved it but once I became accustomed to the shifts, I was completely absorbed by the mess of a family at its heart—a white South African family in the late 20th and early 21st century—and learned a lot about South Africa.
It’s the story of a broken promise to the woman who has worked for them for…
This modern masterpiece captures the spirit and drama of post-apartheid South Africa through the eyes of an Afrikaner family residing on a farm outside Pretoria.
Having lived through this period of my country’s history, it is remarkable to see how perceptively Galgut has managed to convey the spirit of our time and the trauma that lingers in this troubled corner of Africa.
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