A gripping tale of guilty secrets, betrayal, and racial tension, of isolation and revenge in modern-day South Africa, from the Man Booker Prize—shortlisted author of The Good Doctor

When Adam moves into the abandoned house on the dusty edge of town, he is hoping to recover from the loss of his job and his home in the city. But when he meets Canning — a shadowy figure from his childhood — and Canning’s enigmatic and beautiful wife, a sinister new chapter in his life begins. Canning has inherited a vast fortune and a giant folly in the veld, a magical place of fantasy and dreams that seduces Adam and transforms him absolutely, violently — and perhaps forever.

The Impostor evokes a hot and cruel and claustrophobic world, in which sex and death are never far from the surface. Skilfully interweaving the story of one man’s struggle to regain his moral centre with the disorienting, often tragic effects of massive social and political change, it is Galgut’s most powerful and unforgettable novel yet.

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NOMINEE 2009 - Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Africa)

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“Galgut has the talent to grow into one of South Africa's great literary voices, alongside its Nobel laureates, Nadine Gordimer and J. M. Coetzee.”
— Economist

“Galgut is a master of psychological tension.”
— Globe and Mail

“[The Good Doctor is] a gripping read, laced throughout with powerful emotional truth and Damon Galgut’s extraordinary vision.”
— Independent

“Galgut’s style is as bony as the landscape he depicts, as sly and sinewy as the characters that inhabit it.”
— Times Literary Supplement

“[This] many-layered tale of friendship and betrayal proves Galgut is a worthy heir to Gordimer and Coetzee.”
— The Observer

“Like the diamonds mined in his native South Africa, Damon Galgut’s The Impostor is a multi-faceted gem. . . . Like Ian McEwan, he is a master of menace.”
— Vancouver Sun

“Taut writing and a breathtaking suspense ­combine to produce a spine-tingling thriller. . . . A gripping read.”
— Winnipeg Free Press

“A hugely satisfying read.”
— National Post

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Damon Galgut is an award-winning novelist and short story writer. His most recent novel, The Good Doctor, won a regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Galgut lives in Cape Town, South Africa.

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