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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 Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

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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
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The reason i got this, because it was recommended by a YouTuber i follow. I knew after the first 30 minutes or so that I will not enjoy this book. I tried to find a way how to return it and get my credit back but couldn’t figure that out so I persevered… however as predicted it just did not deliver. All the characters were super boring, with no character development. It was just too realistic. Nothing interesting happened. just ordinary lives described in a fancy prose. The performance was good though, I enjoyed the narration very much!

Very slow moving with not much going on

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The Promise offers a rare opportunity to explore the minds and world of a wealthy South African family, who in many ways depicted the white South African dream, but, who ultimately fell into a type of hell. A hell that is largely of their own making through their own narcissism, bigotry and racism. While, in many ways, one can’t help but feel that the characters had no other opportunity to act in any other way, being subjected to the unique set of circumstances that presented them, this novel has the unusual ability to force introspection and ask, “How would
I be any different?” It also has the effect of confronting the reader with the impartiality and limitations of human mortality. The book takes the subject matter and uses four decades of South African history, spanning the pre and post democratic era, as its canvas, accurately conveying the everyday experience through rich and honest descriptions.

An accurate glimpse into a slice of the pre and post democratic era of South Africa

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Narrator was good, accents were fine. Enjoyed the novel. It deserved to win the Booker prize.

A story reflecting torn alliances & values.

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Well deserved winner of the Booker prize, this is a book which captures the multifaceted, multigenerational challenges of everyday life in the ‘new’ South Africa. The narration is excellent. This is a book which will stay with me for a long time!

Superb book, read magnificently well

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Having lived in South Africa in the 70s and 80s, the narrator's delivery brought it all back to me - the words and expressions I haven't heard for years. So sad, some of it shocking, the changes over the years are illustrated very well. And I liked the character development, I disagree with those reviews said there wasn't much.
Pictures are painted throughout of the farm, the old house, the Lombard place, the Koppie. Tanny Marina at Pa's funeral was so funny, I laughed out loud! Highly recommended!

Loved this.

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When I read the reviews I was a bit disturbed to see so many South Africans commenting on how the book reaffirmed why they left SA. I had committed to read it so ploughed on. It is clearly well written and an engaging story of apartheid through the lens of a family over a few decades. I listened to it quite quickly so I’d definitely grabbed my attention. I just didn’t like any of the characters and it took death for the right thing to be done. Maybe it’s supposed to leave me uncomfortable. I know very little about SA history and I’m left wanting to understand more.

Well written. I just didn’t love it.

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Don't miss this. For once the Booker Committee made an excellent choice and audible made an excellent choice of reader.

The depiction of white South Africans is just perfect. I have connections with that time and place and I know that this is as authentic as you can get, beating by a mile every other attempt I have found to capture the mindset.

I also love the intelligent, compact prose, which is not exclusively directed at the post-apartheid crisis of the whites but gives astute and entertaining commentary on many aspects of South African society.

I am sorry for anyone who reads the print copy as the audible version adds a whole dimension. It is a rare delight to hear a proper accent, and equally a shame that for his other books they got an Australian who thinks he can imitate a South African but can't.

Truly brilliant

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I know my fair share of the SA culture and history. This was accurate and immaculately written with a great performance from Noble. The writing is beautiful that is for sure.

As people have said in other reviews I just didn't love those in it. I'm not sure you will either. A broken state of order. This may reflect modern SA.

Difficult to review

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I found it hard to get through albeit mildly endearing. Quite morbid, deliberately so. You never seem sure who the protagonist is or if there even is one…

Gritty story about life in SA

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I especially enjoyed hearing the novel read with a South African accent - those beautiful trills and rolls. The story was really engaging, upsetting, funny and real.

A great novel

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