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The Promise

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The Promise

By: Damon Galgut
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Winner of the Booker Prize 2021.

This audiobook includes bonus content of Damon Galgut in conversation with Ted Hodgkinson, Head of Literature and Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre.

There is nothing unusual or remarkable about the Swart family, oh no, they resemble the family from the next farm and the one beyond that, just an ordinary bunch of white South Africans, and if you don't believe it then listen to us speak....

The many voices of The Promise tell a story in four snapshots, each one centered on a family funeral, each one happening in a different decade. In the background, a different president is in power, and a different spirit hangs over the country, while in the foreground the family fights over what they call their farm, on a worthless piece of land outside Pretoria.

Over large jumps in time, people get older, faces and laws and lives all change, while a brother and sister circle around a promise made long ago and never kept....

©2021 Damon Galgut (P)2021 Penguin Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Africa

Critic Reviews

A superb novel; a nuanced, sad, hilarious portrait of a family and a country (PAULA HAWKINS)

This story was so powerful, the writing so strong and supple.... What an achievement (CLARE CHAMBERS)

A moving, brilliantly told family epic...darkly comic...phenomenally good (ELIZABETH DAY)
All stars
Most relevant  
Well worth winning the Man Booker. Moving, sad, deep, hopeful and poignant. The subtle variations in South African accent that is never over done enhances the story. Thoroughly recommend.

Beautifully written and Brilliantly read

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I liked the interesting style of writing although I sometimes found it hard to work out whose voice/point of view I was listening to! (I know that was the intention just found it sometimes a bit confusing). I was kind of cross about the ending because he leaves it vague! Why couldn’t he at les give us some certainty at the end. I don’t want Disney but a little bit of final certainty would have been more satisfying!

Like an itch you can’t scratch!

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Brilliantly written, beautifully read. A masterpiece in every sense. How else to describe it? What an experience.

Absolutely brilliant

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A masterpiece. Incredible wriing
brought to life by the faultless narration.
Will listen again .

Superb

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only listened to a couple of chapters
can I swap it please?
unable to finish

couldn't stand the sound of the voice. hated it

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loved it! brought back memories of growing up in apartheid South Africa for the first 31 years of my life.
left SA because the future was unclear and did not look like a good place to bring up white children. The history recorded in this book confirms my fears.

loved it! very nostalgic

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A drama tragedy that weaves in an anaemic polemic on the new South Africa. The recurrent tragedy surprises one. A great “read”.

The Promise

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Haven’t read anything like it before. Loved the meandering thoughts. And the what if scenarios.

Compelling

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Powerful, intensely human story read by gifted narrator. A compelling audio journey and worthy Booker winner.

Sublime

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I think this is a novel worth listening to. The writing is very good, meaning both elegant and evocative. The story is engaging on many levels. Of course we want to know what happens to the characters, but there is the bigger South African story which most of us would never have experienced in a personal way. The narration is nuanced and masterful.
I found the addendum, the interview with Damon Galgut, enlightening, in particular the way he, as a white South African approached the representation of black South Africans.
Recommended.

A window to South Africa

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