PROMISES, a novel

293pp., paperback, Catalyst Press, No Place, 2025

ISBN: 9781960803221

Ajuna and her fiancé, Kagaba experience financial hardship in their native Uganda. When Kagaba leaves for the UK as an economic immigrant, threatening their relationship.

"Promises, Goretti Kyomuhendo's new novel, offers yet another slice of Uganda. Promises is why and how Ugandans leave, it is who and what is left behind, it is the steep price paid for leaving. With her signature flair for raw, bold, honest fiction, Kyomuhendo lays bare machinations in Kampala, the heartlessness of London, the resilience of Ugandans and the ingenuity of desperate people. In Promises, Goretti Kyomuhendo reaffirms herself as a major voice out of Africa." Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, author of The First Woman/A Girl is A Body of Water

''Goretti Kyomuhendo has a gift for making you care about her characters as if they are close friends or kin. I grumbled to myself when they made wrong choices but I was rooting for them all the way. This is a terrifying, immersive plunge into the lives of illegal immigrants in the UK and the families they've left behind. Goretti Kyomuhendo is in perfect control of her material, astute and knowing, tightly holding the reins of this fast paced novel.'' Leila Aboulela, author of The Kindness of Enemies: A novel and Minaret: A novel

Ugandan novelist Goretti Kyomuhendo is founding director of the African Writers Trust. Her novels include The First Daughter (1996) and Secrets No More (1999), which won the Uganda National Literary Award for Best Novel.