And the winner is….

Many congratulations to South African Damon Galgut, who has won the 2021 Booker prize on his third time of being shortlisted. Galgut’s novel The Promise, published after seven fallow years, is set in South Africa during the country’s transition out of apartheid. It’s a compelling tale that explores the relationships between the members of a white family, living on a farm outside Pretoria, through the sequential lens of four funerals, casting light on ideas of territory and ownership, historical wrongs and future prospects of redemption. Definitely worth reading for both story and style.