The Promise
£9.99
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 centred 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.
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021
One family. One promise. One chance to tell a new story.
**AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME**
‘A moving, brilliantly told family epic’ Elizabeth Day
‘Superb’ Paula Hawkins
‘Gripping’ Daily Mail
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
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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?
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‘A tour de force… A spectacular demonstration of how the novel can make us see and think afresh’ Booker Judges, 2021
‘So powerful’ Clare Chambers
‘Astonishing’ Colm Tóibìn
‘Bursting with life’ The Times
‘Utterly compelling’ Patrick Gale
Shortlisted for the 2022 Rathbones Folio Prize
** A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, DAILY TELEGRAPH, i AND NEW STATESMAN **
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