The Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over five decades.
Each year, the prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK and Ireland. It is a prize that transforms the winner’s career.
In November, the judges of the Booker Prize chose The Promise by Damon Galgut as the winner of the 2021 Prize. The winning book was chosen from a shortlist of six books, narrowed down from a longlist of thirteen titles by a judging panel.
Following the winner announcement, three reading groups have been reading and discussing The Promise. They also had the opportunity to meet Clara Farmer from Chatto & Windus, Damon Galgut’s long-term editor to ask her questions about the writing and editing process. Read on for their thoughts.
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Gloucester Book Club’s review
Booker Prize winner The Promise is a family novel about relationships between members of a white South African family, told through the lens of four funerals across several decades and seasons.
Gloucester Book Club were chosen to receive copies to read and review. Given it won the Booker Prize in 2021, and we had never read any of Galgut’s novels before, we were very excited. We were also fortunate to meet with The Reading Agency and the book’s editor, Clara Farmer, in a Q&A session.
Some of us did not find the book easy to get into but this generally improved for most as the book progressed. It even became riveting and difficult to put down. There are many characters and a few of us found them tricky to keep track of. However many members really enjoyed ‘The Promise’, especially its humour and the way it colluded with its readers. Its writing style is clever and easy, and it makes a great book for discussion within book groups. It has an unusual narrative style which makes a strong commentary on humanity and South African history throughout the novel.
There has been much to reflect on since finishing the book and it provoked a full discussion highlighting the many questions it raises for South Africa and its people. Possibly the main question is, how much do black people have a voice post-apartheid?
A highly recommended read and raises the profile of South African literature through winning the Booker. As a group we feel enriched by having read it.
To find out more about Gloucester Book Club’s thoughts on the The Promise, tune in to their podcast.
Fourth Floor Reading Group
Our book group had a range of responses to The Promise. We thought it was very well written with an interesting narrative voice. We liked the incisive and humorous comments made about and by various characters and felt that the plot moved at a good pace, helped by the clarity of the four sections. We understood that part of the purpose of the novel was to convey the point of view of the white Afrikaans family at its centre. However we also missed hearing Salome’s voice. Some of us felt that the characters were too unlikeable for us to want to spend time with them, whilst others felt that the insight into the narrowness and selfishness of their lives in the wider context of South African history justified this approach.
It was great to hear from the editor and understand more about the author and the process of taking the book from manuscript to published novel. I found it particularly interesting to hear about the decisions regarding the title and presentation of the book.
Hoole Community Library Group
Frances: “I enjoyed reading ‘The Promise’, the story of a white family on a small farm during about 40 years, in part reflecting South Africa’s gradual move out of apartheid. It begins with the death of the mother Rachel and continues with family deaths until only Amor is left. There are several large themes: religion, apartheid, reparation, loss, family disagreements, and unfulfilled hopes and aspirations. Amor is clearly the heroine even though she is absent during much of the 40 years. But comes back each time there is a family crisis and is determined to keep the promise to Salome. I like the style of prose, moving from third person narrative to first person thoughts and speech. I like the concise, clear cameos of several people who have a small part in the story, and the way the author occasionally turns to the reader with an aside.”Margaret: “I enjoyed The Promise. The author was completely new to me and I had not read a book about South Africa before. I enjoyed his style of writing – the short sentences and the quick changes of the subject who was speaking or thinking.”
Jane: “I found this book interesting to read about South Africa’s journey through the ending of apartheid .. the politics involved and the influence that continues to this day.
I loved the language the writer uses, both the Afrikaans and the descriptive phasing of his prose.
Also the humour and playfulness, the narrator’s asides to the reader…the irony was fun. It gave a good balance from the darkness of the novel to comedy – which it needed.”
