DAMON GALGUT is the author of nine novels. He won the Booker Prize 2021 for
The Promise, having been shortlisted for the prize twice before (
The Good Doctor and
In A Strange Room). He lives and works in Cape Town.
A superb novel; a nuanced, sad, hilarious portrait of a family and a countryThis story was
so powerful, the writing so strong and supple...
What an achievementA moving, brilliantly told family epic . . .
darkly comic . . . phenomenally goodLayered, clever...with
a gripping storyA brilliant book told over four decades and four funerals . . . These are characters dancing on the edge of ruin . . .
IntoxicatingAstonishing . . .
about fate and loss, about three siblings and land, a promise made a brokenA remarkable
tale of four generations of one South African family and of the country itself... No wonder it won the Booker
Vivid and suggestive,
moving and often very funnyOutstanding . . .
Gripping . . . There is also plenty of unexpected comedyBrilliant... Rarely have I had such a strong sense, while reading a novel, that
I myself was there, in the room with the charactersWINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021
One family. One promise. One chance to tell a new story.
'A moving, brilliantly told family epic' Elizabeth Day
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
On a farm outside Pretoria, the Swarts are gathering for Ma's funeral. 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. Salome was to be given her own house, her own land...yet somehow, that vow is carefully ignored.
As each decade passes, and the family assemble again, one question hovers over them. Can you ever escape the repercussions of a broken promise?
'A tour de force... A spectacular demonstration of how the novel can make us see and think afresh' Booker Judges, 2021
'Astonishing' Colm Tóibín
'Utterly compelling' Patrick Gale
