Magpie Books - Book-of-the-Month Club

The first book of the month will be Damon Galgut’s The Promise, the 2021 Booker prize winner, and a brilliant, gripping read. The book is set in Galgut’s home of South Africa, and it begins with a death-bed promise to give one of the family’s long-time workers the deeds to her own house. The daughter of the house, who witnesses the promise being made, lets the secret out, and the novel then follows the family through another generation while the promise lurks like a fairy tale curse in the background of their lives. The story carves its way through the political and physical landscape of the country, shining a light into dark corners of shame, compromise and disappointment. I read it in one huge gulp, barely surfacing for breath, then handed it round everyone I knew hoping someone would want to talk to me about it!

Bring your suggestions of what book you would like on the list for a book club meeting later in the year. I love fiction, but I can be persuaded to read biography and journalism too!