Winnie and Nelson

Starred review from March 6, 2023
Journalist Steinberg (A Man of Good Hope) vividly recreates the political and private lives of anti-apartheid activists Nelson and Winnie Mandela in this exceptional dual biography. African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela and social worker Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela met in Johannesburg in 1957. Already a target of the white ruling authorities, Nelson went underground in 1961; arrested and jailed the following year for inciting a strike, he eventually received a lifetime prison sentence. While cultivating an aura of suffering and martyrdom from his cell, Nelson evolved into an inspirational figurehead for a free South Africa. Meanwhile, Winnie raised their daughters, supported the family, and made a place for herself in the ANC. By the 1970s, the ANC became South Africa’s preeminent anti-apartheid organization and the Mandelas internationally known as its leaders. Privately, their marriage cracked under the strain. Winnie began taking lovers when Nelson first went underground, which he knew and accepted, though he preferred the myth he wove of their relationship. Rumors also circulated about her drinking and violent behavior. Two years after Nelson’s release in 1990, the couple divorced, costing Winnie the last of the power she held with the ANC. The tumultuous decades apart had turned them into “astonishingly scarred human beings,” Steinberg writes. Readers will be mesmerized by the thrumming tension and profound emotional complexity of this intimate portrait of two global icons. It’s a knockout. Illus.

June 10, 2024

South African writer Steinberg (A Man of Good Hope) offers a dual biography illuminating the lives and accomplishments of husband and wife Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Drawing upon recently released documents and recordings, Steinberg paints a no-holds-barred picture of South Africa's power couple. The author describes their early lives, which set the stage for their later political activities. Eighteen years Winnie's senior, Nelson became the leader of the African National Congress while Winnie raised their children at home. The Mandelas spent only the first two years of their marriage together; after that, Nelson was either underground or imprisoned. While Nelson served a life sentence on Robben Island, Winnie began to believe that only armed insurrection would free Black South Africans. After his 1990 release from prison, Nelson served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Privately, the couple's relationship was falling apart, scarred by infidelity and political pressure; they separated in 1992 and finalized their divorce in 1996. South African narrator Puleng Lange-Stewart provides an exceptional performance, enhancing Steinberg's words with her lively, engaging delivery. Although this is a lengthy audio, Lange-Stewart's narration makes the hours fly by. VERDICT A riveting account, depicting a troubled marriage and the growing pains of South Africa's decades-long political struggle.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

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