THE PROMISE

Born in South Africa, narrator Peter Noble eloquently delivers an inspired performance of this compelling audiobook. He's adept at voicing young and old, black and white, Afrikaans inflected with a distinctly South African lilt and twang. He captures the nasal tones and tight sounds and masterfully paces this novel, which won the 2021 Booker Prize. The plot excavates South Africa over recent decades through the lens of a family saga. Galgut often steps out of the traditional authorial distance and addresses the listener directly on issues of race, politics, poverty, and the dark cloud of Apartheid that hangs over the country. All the Swart family members are flawed, their "promise" unfulfilled until the end and their privileged lives on a farm near Pretoria upended by their country's upheaval. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2021]