Damon Galgut
Winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, The Promise by Damon Galgut is a family saga of the Afrikaner Swart family in South Africa. Beginning in 1986 and spanning four decades, it is set against the backdrop of a changing South Africa. The novel opens with the death of the matriarch, Rachel Swart. Rachel is survived by her husband, Manie, and their three children, Anton, Astrid, and Amor. Before her death, Rachel extracts a promise from Manie that he will bequeath a small homestead on their property to Salome, their black housekeeper. The promise is witnessed by Amor, a young child at the time.
Upon her mother’s death, Amor reminds her father of his promise. He denies making it. As the decades unfold, Amor is haunted by the unfulfilled promise. She reminds her siblings of the promise after their father’s death; she reminds Anton of the promise after Astrid’s death. Anton assures her he will honor the promise, but he never does. It is only after his death when Amor inherits the property is she able to honor her mother’s wishes and legally transfer the homestead to Salome. By this time, Salome is an elderly woman and the property is virtually worthless.
The novel is in four parts, beginning with the death of Rachel followed by the deaths of Manie, Astrid, and Anton in that order. Each of the four sections focuses on one family member, and each section includes a death and a funeral. The characters are skillfully portrayed, unveiling more of themselves as the years unwind. In voices that are unique and authentic, their interiority reveals them to be tortured, fractured souls.
From the outset, the Swarts are depicted as dysfunctional and non-communicative. They don’t know how to express or feel love for one another. Manie is alienated from his wife and children; Anton is a military deserter, a failed novelist, and an alcoholic; Astrid is a self-absorbed, status-conscious housewife; and Amor is the quiet, aloof, and unobtrusive loner. Their downward spiral and unravelling begin with Rachel’s death and the unfulfilled promise to Salome. As such, the family can be viewed as a microcosm of South African society with its fractured white minority subjugating and betraying a non-white majority with false hopes and broken promises.
The story is compelling, but the real strength of the novel lies in the agility of the narrative voice. The narrator shifts seamlessly, often in mid-sentence and mid-paragraph, between characters, points of view, dialogue, and interiority. Occasional direct addresses to the reader pepper the narrative with unflinching honesty and commentary. Their effect is to generate a feeling of immediacy—of actually being there and witnessing the events. These intrusions are sometimes dark; sometimes hilarious; sometimes sarcastic; sometimes irreverent; sometimes accusatory; sometimes ironic; sometimes playful; sometimes self-conscious; sometimes self-deprecating; but always, always engaging.
A cleverly-executed and compelling novel, well-deserving of its award.