Galgut slips seamlessly from first to second to third person and from place to other place, sometimes within the same sentence, and always without dialog quotation marks, giving a feeling of intimacy and sense of floating in real time to this book that happens in South Africa, within a troubled family, over decades. He received the Booker for his efforts and I think this beautifully written and moving story is worthy of the award.

The mother of the family asks her husband before she dies to promise to give the house on their farm where Salome lives to their black servant outright. The narrative plays out against this premise, as the tragic Swart family moves through three deaths and funerals over years. Only Amor is able to escape, but she pays a terrific price for her separation.