Winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, The Promise is a towering family saga set against the sweep of post-apartheid South Africa — intimate, incisive, and impossible to forget.
The Swart family gathers on their farm outside Pretoria for their mother's funeral. The younger generation — Anton and Amor — detest everything the family stands for, not least the broken promise made to Salome, the Black woman who has worked for them her whole life. She was promised her own house, her own land. Yet somehow, as each decade passes, that promise remains unfulfilled. As South Africa moves from apartheid to a so-called fairer society, the lost promise of more than just one family haunts every page.
Trending among readers drawn to family sagas across decades, sharp social commentary on race, land, and legacy, and the emotional weight of promises broken and guilt carried. Goodreads readers rate it ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (3.84/5 from 49,000+ ratings) — "A towering family saga, incisive and intimate."
Perfect for fans of J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace, Nadine Gordimer's July's People, Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, or Booker Prize winners like Shuggie Bain.
A trade paperback (2021, Umuzi/Penguin Random House SA) in Good condition.
