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The Comrade's Wife
Claire is less cynical. ‘Fall in love, if you must. But do your research. And meet his people early on. They’ll give you a sense of who he is.’ Solid advice. And ultimately, this is how I found myself on a flight to Bloemfontein one Friday afternoon.
An instant classic, the lies and betrayals of love and party politics are told in gorgeous prose with an ear for our time’s intimate and public language. The Comrade’s Wife follows a turbulent marriage between a rising politician and an academic, told through her life and lens.
‘Tender, delightful, frightening. A testimony to Boswell’s inexhaustible vision.’ – Pumla Dineo Gqola, author of Female Fear Factory
‘Wonderfully plotted, emotionally rich, clever, and full of intrigue… Find a quiet, comfortable corner and settle in because you won’t want to leave Anita’s superb company until she’s finished her story.’ – Nadia Davids, author of An Imperfect Blessing
‘What a thrilling read! I could not put it down.’ – Terry-Ann Adams, author of White Chalk and Those Who Live in Cages
‘Some politicians are as immoral at home as they are in the halls of government. The Comrade’s Wife is a wonderful account of the political made personal.’ – Rehana Rossouw, author of New Times and What Will People Say
An instant classic, the lies and betrayals of love and party politics are told in gorgeous prose with an ear for our time’s intimate and public language. The Comrade’s Wife follows a turbulent marriage between a rising politician and an academic, told through her life and lens.
‘Tender, delightful, frightening. A testimony to Boswell’s inexhaustible vision.’ – Pumla Dineo Gqola, author of Female Fear Factory
‘Wonderfully plotted, emotionally rich, clever, and full of intrigue… Find a quiet, comfortable corner and settle in because you won’t want to leave Anita’s superb company until she’s finished her story.’ – Nadia Davids, author of An Imperfect Blessing
‘What a thrilling read! I could not put it down.’ – Terry-Ann Adams, author of White Chalk and Those Who Live in Cages
‘Some politicians are as immoral at home as they are in the halls of government. The Comrade’s Wife is a wonderful account of the political made personal.’ – Rehana Rossouw, author of New Times and What Will People Say
229 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2024
7 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Boswell
122 books45 followersBarbara Schroeder was born on 28 October 1946 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, USA. She worked as nurse, before she married William P. Boswell, a attorney, and they had three daughters.
She has been a longtime romance novel fan, becoming hooked on the romances by Harlequin back in the mid-‘70s when she was home with her three small daughters. When the youngest reached school age in 1983, she wanted something to do with her extra time. She thought about going back to nursing, but didn't care to deal with hospital shifts. She'd often made up stories in her head and/or continued the stories that she'd read, so it seemed like a fun idea to try to write a story of her own. It took a lot more effort and organization than the loosely strung-together scenes she'd run through her mind, but she was right about the fun part! She enjoyed the whole process and wrote a story that she knew she would enjoy reading. She sent it off and was thrilled when it was accepted! It was even more exciting to see her name on the book cover. Some 50-plus books later, it's still a thrill to see her name on the book and it's still fun to make up stories — at least most of the time!
Barbara gets her ideas from everywhere but especially from reading, which she loves to do. Sometimes, just a sentence in a newspaper or a magazine will spark an idea to develop into a romance. Other times, she'll be inspired by another romance novel and she will try to put her own spin on a favorite old plot. Barbara believes that we all have our preferences — she's always been partial to the "secret baby" story line. That, plus the "marriage of convenience" and class or family conflicts are some of her particular favorites.
Her three daughters are all grown up now, and she and her husband are the proud grandparents of a beautiful little grandson. They also have three cats who seem to think that they are the rulers of their house. They are terribly spoiled, and they just might be right.
She has been a longtime romance novel fan, becoming hooked on the romances by Harlequin back in the mid-‘70s when she was home with her three small daughters. When the youngest reached school age in 1983, she wanted something to do with her extra time. She thought about going back to nursing, but didn't care to deal with hospital shifts. She'd often made up stories in her head and/or continued the stories that she'd read, so it seemed like a fun idea to try to write a story of her own. It took a lot more effort and organization than the loosely strung-together scenes she'd run through her mind, but she was right about the fun part! She enjoyed the whole process and wrote a story that she knew she would enjoy reading. She sent it off and was thrilled when it was accepted! It was even more exciting to see her name on the book cover. Some 50-plus books later, it's still a thrill to see her name on the book and it's still fun to make up stories — at least most of the time!
Barbara gets her ideas from everywhere but especially from reading, which she loves to do. Sometimes, just a sentence in a newspaper or a magazine will spark an idea to develop into a romance. Other times, she'll be inspired by another romance novel and she will try to put her own spin on a favorite old plot. Barbara believes that we all have our preferences — she's always been partial to the "secret baby" story line. That, plus the "marriage of convenience" and class or family conflicts are some of her particular favorites.
Her three daughters are all grown up now, and she and her husband are the proud grandparents of a beautiful little grandson. They also have three cats who seem to think that they are the rulers of their house. They are terribly spoiled, and they just might be right.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 16, 2024
Book #2 of the month done. This was a short read, however, I do feel like it could have been shorter because there were many parts in the book that felt too repeated.
The book feels like it’s a true account of someone’s life. I say this because the details of her PhD, the work she does at the University felt very intricate. The life of the husband as well does make the story read like a memoir because of the specificity of what he does.
Initially I judged the female main character but I realised I was being unfair and victim-blaming. One of the overarching theme is betrayal and there a lot of gaslighting, emotional abuse. I don’t enjoy these type of book hence my lower rating.
The book feels like it’s a true account of someone’s life. I say this because the details of her PhD, the work she does at the University felt very intricate. The life of the husband as well does make the story read like a memoir because of the specificity of what he does.
Initially I judged the female main character but I realised I was being unfair and victim-blaming. One of the overarching theme is betrayal and there a lot of gaslighting, emotional abuse. I don’t enjoy these type of book hence my lower rating.
September 13, 2024
Fini en 24h. Incroyable
December 30, 2024
I genuinely struggle either way South African fiction I don’t know it’s the familiarity scene or the predictability and repetitiveness of this storyline. It didn’t take me long from being introduced to Neil that I knew he was no good and that Anita’s life was going downhill because of that man. I know I am too judgemental of her and can admit she was being manipulated and constantly and her husband was constantly gaslighting but I am going to need Anita to take some responsibility because Sis was very Delulu and I just could not stand her passive approach also she had no business marrying that man (Neil that is).
An underwhelming book which served its purpose as a light read pallet cleanser after reading a heavy book.
An underwhelming book which served its purpose as a light read pallet cleanser after reading a heavy book.
October 17, 2024
I could not muster the energy to even finish this laborious read. I feel like there was way too much repetition.
August 29, 2024
The Comrade’s Wife is set between 2016 and 2018 against the changing society landscape in South Africa’s 30 years of democracy.
The story is told through the eyes of Anita whose journey began in a shack in Bokmakierie, Athlone. Her mother was a domestic worker but managed to send her daughter to university where Anita worked hard and ascended to a high position in UCT, as one of the first generation in the family to attend university.
Now, Anita is divorced and feels ready to step into a new relationship. She turns to a dating app and meets politician and lawyer Neill. He is every woman’s dream – a good-looking, wealthy lawyer turned politician, charismatic and ambitious – but he is also devious, inconsistent, a narcissist and cruel. He is absent from their marital home much of the time. His excuse is that he must be with his constituency in his home town of Bloemfontein.
Anita berates him for being away so much. She cries a lot, battles within herself and asks who this person really is.
Meanwhile, she deals with power struggles in academia with its complicated dynamics and gender challenges.
To write more would provide spoilers. Anita’s situation is predictable but it’s the way she deals with the issue that makes the book unputdownable.
Muizenberg author Barbara Boswell captures the complexities of relationships – both intimate and political – through nuanced characterisations and layered storytelling. She deftly weaves together the personal struggles and emotional turmoil from Anita’s family and friends to her tumultuous marriage. The story touches on themes of abuse, morality and the convoluted road of ambition.
This book is beautifully written, emotionally rich, clever and full of intrigue with a gripping plot. It’s a thoroughly good read and I give it five stars.
Boswell’s previous works include Grace: A Novel (2017), which tackled gender-based violence, and the part literary history, part feminist historiography And Wrote My Story Anyway: Black South African Women’s Novels as Feminism.
Thanks to Jacana Publishers for the review copy.
The story is told through the eyes of Anita whose journey began in a shack in Bokmakierie, Athlone. Her mother was a domestic worker but managed to send her daughter to university where Anita worked hard and ascended to a high position in UCT, as one of the first generation in the family to attend university.
Now, Anita is divorced and feels ready to step into a new relationship. She turns to a dating app and meets politician and lawyer Neill. He is every woman’s dream – a good-looking, wealthy lawyer turned politician, charismatic and ambitious – but he is also devious, inconsistent, a narcissist and cruel. He is absent from their marital home much of the time. His excuse is that he must be with his constituency in his home town of Bloemfontein.
Anita berates him for being away so much. She cries a lot, battles within herself and asks who this person really is.
Meanwhile, she deals with power struggles in academia with its complicated dynamics and gender challenges.
To write more would provide spoilers. Anita’s situation is predictable but it’s the way she deals with the issue that makes the book unputdownable.
Muizenberg author Barbara Boswell captures the complexities of relationships – both intimate and political – through nuanced characterisations and layered storytelling. She deftly weaves together the personal struggles and emotional turmoil from Anita’s family and friends to her tumultuous marriage. The story touches on themes of abuse, morality and the convoluted road of ambition.
This book is beautifully written, emotionally rich, clever and full of intrigue with a gripping plot. It’s a thoroughly good read and I give it five stars.
Boswell’s previous works include Grace: A Novel (2017), which tackled gender-based violence, and the part literary history, part feminist historiography And Wrote My Story Anyway: Black South African Women’s Novels as Feminism.
Thanks to Jacana Publishers for the review copy.
January 4, 2025
Stories of people, be they fiction or non-fiction can find you in mental and emotional spaces where contexts are relatable. The Comrades Wife was like reading similar realities of experiences told by women across different platforms, be it conversations on the dining, table, in a podcast, social media post or otherwise.
At the start of the book, I was a bit uncertain with the writing style, but kneading into it, I must say that this first person narration was the ideal interlace to bring out Anita’s story in a most gripping way.
Set in South Africa’s different provinces, Barbara Boswell, tells us the fiction story of Anita a well accomplished academic in her 40s longing for more than just career accomplishments. She finds, it, love, and everything that clutched heavy on her mind. She was now a woman who could define herself as one who had everything! Neil her husband, a politician who was always against the clock, fills the pores of validation that Anita’s life needed, until she finds the deadlocks that would change her life.
This book is typical of the political status of many countries in Africa, and the rot that is hidden behind idealism.
I couldn’t put down this book, it sets a good pace for my 2025 reads, and more so because I was intentional to pick an African authored book as a kicker for the year. It will trigger you, it will annoy you, and you might occasionally find yourself empathizing, while other times convulsing with sobriety of the blindness that throws us in deep wells of hope, and they remain just as that, hope.
4 star!
At the start of the book, I was a bit uncertain with the writing style, but kneading into it, I must say that this first person narration was the ideal interlace to bring out Anita’s story in a most gripping way.
Set in South Africa’s different provinces, Barbara Boswell, tells us the fiction story of Anita a well accomplished academic in her 40s longing for more than just career accomplishments. She finds, it, love, and everything that clutched heavy on her mind. She was now a woman who could define herself as one who had everything! Neil her husband, a politician who was always against the clock, fills the pores of validation that Anita’s life needed, until she finds the deadlocks that would change her life.
This book is typical of the political status of many countries in Africa, and the rot that is hidden behind idealism.
I couldn’t put down this book, it sets a good pace for my 2025 reads, and more so because I was intentional to pick an African authored book as a kicker for the year. It will trigger you, it will annoy you, and you might occasionally find yourself empathizing, while other times convulsing with sobriety of the blindness that throws us in deep wells of hope, and they remain just as that, hope.
4 star!
September 20, 2024
Such a brilliant book. The plot centres on Anita, a woman in her forties who falls in love with a politician, marries him and faces some challenges in her marriage. Her husband Neill is a politician and a very complex character. I enjoyed the book very much and it draws questions on a lot of issues to do with femininity, education, fidelity and companionship. Anita is well developed and seeing her navigate her journey through life was so enjoyable. The only issue I had was with the ending, this is totally personal and I found the end a little rushed.
Recommend for lovers of African contemporary literature.
Recommend for lovers of African contemporary literature.
October 10, 2025
All in the name of love
An emotionally charged narrative that explores universal themes of marital abuse and patriarchy.the roles that women are forced to play in society and relationships.its unapologetically raw in the how women give away their power away in the name of love until there is nothing left. an excellent and relatable story and a must read
An emotionally charged narrative that explores universal themes of marital abuse and patriarchy.the roles that women are forced to play in society and relationships.its unapologetically raw in the how women give away their power away in the name of love until there is nothing left. an excellent and relatable story and a must read
January 2, 2025
A very strong 3 3/4 this was so interesting to read as in South Africa at the time just a really good insight into contemporary South Africa which is what I was keen to read about also very lovely ending which is unusual for some books really happy. I read this
October 8, 2024
Mediocre.
April 13, 2025
Brilliant, easy-read. I finished this book within 24hrs.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews