Damon Galgut

I’ve read four or five of his novels and although I haven’t been impressed by all of them, he is undeniably talented. Galgut is a master of dread and of creating an unsettling atmosphere; this novel is no exception but I found the book more like a slow-paced thriller than anything else. The story, ultimately, is a story about losing one’s moral center and attempting to regain it—the theme applies not only to the protagonist but to his relationships and even, on a far broader scale, to the recent history of South Africa itself. His writing, as always, is top-notch but the plot struck me as overly complex and unnecessary. Galgut has shown in previous works that he can do extraordinary things with the simplest of events; that he has so overloaded the framework here is both disappointing and, ultimately, unconvincing.… (mer)

This novel took my breath away in so many ways. The promise in the title is presumably the promise of house to Salome, made by the mother on her deathbed. Salome had worked for the family for years and continued to do so as the decades pass and the promise is not fulfilled. But it is also the promise of South Africa, as it shakes off aparteid and has so much promise as a democratic country. In the final chapters we see corruption, crime and power and water outages from its crumbling infrastructure. It is also the promise of the characters. Anton had so many plans and struggles to get beyond drinking. Lukas, Salome's son also had promise that isn't fulfilled. Different female characters become beautiful to the whispering narrator eyes at different times and this suggests promise that then disappears in weight gain and tiredness from working and caring. The family business, a snake and reptile park, and the land, is also full of promise and this shrivels away. There is plenty of sadness in the novel but it doesn't feel a bleak novel and I didn't weep over any of the characters. At the end I was left with a sense of joy and moving on.… (mer)