Dr Barbara Boswell with her new novel, The Comrade’s Wife.
The complex relationship between a wealthy politician and his academic wife is explored in The Comrade’s Wife, a novel by UCT lecturer Dr Barbara Boswell, of Muizenberg.
Dr Boswell, 51, launched her book at the university’s Centre for African Studies in Rondebosch on Thursday May 16.
“The story is about a contemporary South African marriage. The protagonists are a university lecturer, named Anita, and her politician husband, Neill, and we see how politics creep into their lives as a married couple,” she said.
The couple negotiate their marriage and politics with Anita determined not to lose herself in the role of politician’s wife. Abuse and the affects of poor political governance are some of the issues covered in the book.
Dr Boswell said she wanted to look at challenges facing the country and decided the best way to do that would be through the stories of two people.
“I wanted to look at how people’s lives have changed for the good and the bad through the shift of democracy.”
The associate professor and English literature studies lecturer at UCT published Grace: A Novel in 2017 and And Wrote My Story Anyway in 2020.
One of Dr Boswell’s former students, Zena Msutu, who is now a UCT Master’s student in gender studies, was among the 30-odd guests at the book launch.
“I don’t normally get to see the lecturers producing work outside their department, and she introduced and crafted her academic and intellectual thoughts around love, politics and relationships.”
The Comrade’s Wife is available for sale at Exclusive Books, Clarke’s Bookshop and The Book Lounge.