September: The Comrade’s Wife
by Barbara Boswell
Review by Tonderai Chiyindiko
The Comrade’s Wife by Barbara Boswell is a riveting tale of love, lust, marriage, politics, devotion, deceit, friendship, courage and so much more told though the eyes of our protagonist, Dr. Anita Fredericks. In her, we encounter a brilliant, confident, empathetic and ‘feisty’ academic who is battle-hardened as she fights for herself, her students and others who come from a similar background to hers. Anita’s backstory from Bokmakierie, Athlone is a well-documented yet all-too familiar tale of lack, be it of resources, opportunities and even basic things such as clean water, electricity or ‘inside toilets’ are things which would seem ordinary, but in reality these are considered a luxury by the rest of the predominantly black South African population, where this story is set.
Anita’s co-protagonist and love interest is Neill, the suave, well-connected, dapper, politically aspirational, once divorced father of two who later turns out to be one of those womanising, corrupt and chauvistic-pig types who preaches gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment in public but in private practises the opposite.
Much of Anita’s sanity, joy and kindship come in the form of her two close friends, Thandiswa and Claire, a sisterhood of sorts who playfully refer to themselves as “the coven”. Their lives are intertwined through struggle and by friendship as they navigate what it means to be a black woman in contemporary South Africa. Through each of them we unravel the politics of gender, sexuality and power in South Africa as each navigates love, divorce and dating when you are successful and well-educated black woman in the era of dating apps like Tinder.
Boswell is masterful in creating a raw, almost Cinderella-like yet emotionally charged story of two lovers set against the backdrop of the wider politics of the day. Rarely does one encounter novels which confront our immediate in the way Boswell does by having a clarity of voice to unpack the dog-eat-dog internal politics and upheavals of the ruling party without taking sides or getting too caught up in the messiness of the whole circus.
About the reviewer
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Tonderai Chiyindiko
Tonderai Chiyindiko is a voracious reader who is addicted to the intoxicating smell of new books and loves attending book launches (because of the free-flowing wine, cheese and snacks). He lives and works in Johannesburg.
