Book 6: The Promise (2021) - Damon Galgut

Wednesday March 18

What is the book about?

The Promise depicts the crash and burn of a white South African family during and after Apartheid. On their farm outside Pretoria, the Swarts are gathering for Ma’s funeral. The younger generation detests everything the family stands for, not least the failed promise to the Black woman who has worked for them her whole life. After years of service, Salome was promised 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?

Fragment (to get an idea of the style)

“Well, Tannie Marina reflects, at least the child is easy to speak to. She doesn’t interrupt or argue and gives the impression she’s paying attention, all that’s required. It’s not a long drive from the school to where the Laubschers live in Menlo Park, but time feels stretched today and Tannie Marina talks in emotive Afrikaans the whole way, her voice low and confiding, full of diminutives, even though her motives are not benign. It’s the usual topic, about how Ma has betrayed the whole family by changing her religion. Correction, by going back to her old religion. To being a Jew! Her aunt has been extremely vocal on this subject for the past half a year, ever since Ma fell ill, but what is Amor supposed to do about it? She’s just a child, she has no power, and anyway what’s so wrong about going back to your own religion if you want to?”

First sentence

“The moment the metal box speaks her name, Amor knows it's happened.”

The Promise is also available at University's Library.

Looking back on Day 6 of the challenge

The promise, one of my favorite books this challenge. Did you know four students picked all the books this year? Thanks so much for including this gripping novel, Joanne and Randi! A great opening sentence for you as well, the story immediately starts, something has happened. Let's see how it inspired you.

A metal box speaks her name

From the abstract we gave you, you could figure out that it was the tiding of the death of the mother. Hearing something emotional like that through a metal box. Many entries took that contrast to work with. Sometimes emotional, sometimes with irony, like: It's really fun finding out about tragedies that way, out of a metal box. And where could Amor be, hearing her name through a metal box? Some entries, including the winning one, thought about a school (that is a good guess by the way). The winning entry uses a minimal amount of words to show the school setting and what happens in Amor's head and body. Very subtile, but we can all imagine the scene immediately.

The winning start of Begin a Book, Day 6:

The moment the metal box speaks her name, Amor knows it's happened. It's unspoken, but not unheard. She can feel it in her bones before slowly getting up to walk to the principal's office to "hear" the news.

Jasmijn Klein Douwel (student of Philosophy and Astronomy)

Congrats, Jasmijn and thanks to everyone who participated!

Nice to know

• The Promise was the third time Damon Galgut was shortlisted for the Booker Prize before he finally won in 2021.