![]() ![]() The breaking of the promise is like a curse that hangs over the family for years. The plot is uncomplicated and the narrative is deceptively simple. The Promise is one of the most interesting books I’ve read for a while. ![]() It’s a moment that will shape Amor’s future relationships with her family. But Manie is reluctant to honour his dead wife’s word – in fact he doubts it to be true – and in a moment of miscommunication, Amor comes to believe he has affirmed the promise, only to later break it. Amor, Rachel’s youngest daughter, knows of the promise, and when her mother dies she tries to hold her father, Manie, to it. The Swarts, while not bad people, are nevertheless driven by greed and self-interest. The house is in poor condition and it’s worth nothing to the family, but it means everything to Salome. Salome has been ever-faithful and has nursed Rachel in her sickness. ![]() ![]() As Rachael Swart lays dying – she has been ill for months and her death is not unexpected – she makes a promise to Salome that she will bequeath the house Salome has been living in, which is on the Swart land. The promise referred to by Damon Galgut’s title, is one made to Salome, a black woman who has worked most of her life serving a South African farming family, the Swarts. ![]()
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