BOOKS FROM SOUTH AFRICALa Promesa
by Damon Galgut
Description:
The Swarts are a white family who have lived for generations on a farm outside Pretoria, South Africa. After the death of the mother, all the members gather for the funeral at the family home. Amor and Anton, two of her children, reject what the family represents and do not forget the promise that their father made to their mother shortly before he died: that Salome, the black woman who has been working for them all her life and who took care of him in his last days, she could keep the small house in which she has lived for years. But time is passing and the promise is not fulfilled. The narrative follows the Swarts' footsteps over more than three decades; through the detailed exploration of family members and their conflicts, Galgut also tells us about the political and social changes in the country after the end of racial segregation.