The novel revolves around a white Swart family in South Africa. It begins in the year 1986 when the mother of the family, Rachel, dies. Her dying wish was to give ownership of the house their black servant Salome lives in, as a way to thank her. The father of the family promised to go through with the wish, but after the funeral, he retracts the promise. The youngest child, Amor, insists on him to hold the promise, which results in a fight between the family and everyone goes their own way.
Almost a decade passes, and the Swart children reunite back at their family home for their father’s funeral. Manie, the father, suffered a bizarre death from a snake bite. Meanwhile, the black South Africans are starting to be given equal rights to the white. Anton, the eldest sibling, takes charge of the inheritance, and Amor, the youngest sister, insists on him upholding the promise made by their father, which he refuses to do.
Another decade passes and the middle sibling, Astrid, gets killed in a car robbery. The remaining two members of the Swart family meet again at the family home for the funeral, and Amor, yet again, raises the question of the promise, and Anton still refuses to act upon it.
A substantial number of years pass, and Amor returns to the family farm for yet another funeral. Anton committed suicide, and she is the only remaining member of the Swart family. She finally holds the promise made a long time ago and gives Salome a part of her inheritance along with the house.
