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The Promise

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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 Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Thought-Provoking 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
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What a great story! Really sucks you in so you don't want to stop. Its beautifully read with very good accents for the different characters. Highly recommended.

Fantastic book!

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Almost every sentence drew a picture of the country, of the people, of the attitudes of white dominated South Africa. When was drawn into the thinking, of each character as they were so beautifully revealed and characterised by the outstanding narration by Perter Noble.

Live another life in pictures

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Fabulous writing and an intricate and believable story, with surprising wit and humour. Read the book first and loved it and was thrilled to find the narration to be so brilliant - it really added depth and understanding.

Superb

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Surprisingly empty saga , with characters it is hard to care about, devoid of hope and that ultimately goes nowhere . Aside from the passing warmth of Salome , occasionally seen on the periphery , the overall experience is unpleasant . I immersed myself willingly for several days in Peter Noble’s compelling renditions of these cruel and self absorbed characters , hoping for some great epiphany, but apart from some really clever sentences and a few original insights , my hope remained unrequited. As in the story itself there was no true final reward .

Empty promise

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The author uses mutiple narrative voices to evoke a time in South Africa , which is a transitional phase . Galgut successfully conveys the experience of a white family and the comsequences of a will on the next generation.
I found it engaging and different and would recommemd it.
However, the actor reading it adopts a tone which can be irritating and depressing. The female voices seem caricatured to ridicule.
Apart from this, it is effectively written to give a snapshot of a particular time and place. The inner lives of the characters are sensitively portrayed.

A memorable read.

Atmospheric

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