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Title details for Winnie and Nelson by Jonny Steinberg - Available

Winnie and Nelson

Portrait of a Marriage

by Jonny Steinberg
Puleng Lange-Stewart
Audiobook
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A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • THE SUNDAY TIMES LITERARY AWARD WINNER • AN LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALIST • A WASHINGTON POST AND NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A deeply researched, shattering new account of Nelson Mandela’s relationship with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela that “does justice both to the couple’s political heroism and to the betrayals and the secrets that hounded their union” (The New Yorker).
Drawing on never-before-seen material, Steinberg—one of South Africa’s foremost nonfiction writers—reveals the fractures and stubborn bonds at the heart of a volatile and groundbreaking union, a very modern political marriage that played out on the world stage.
“Powerful, intimate.” —The Washington Post
One of the most celebrated political leaders of a century, Nelson Mandela has been written about by many biographers and historians. But in one crucial area, his life remains largely untold: his marriage to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. During his years in prison, Nelson grew ever more in love with an idealized version of his wife, courting her in his letters as if they were young lovers frozen in time. But Winnie, every bit his political equal, found herself increasingly estranged from her jailed husband’s politics. Behind his back, she was trying to orchestrate an armed seizure of power, a path he feared would lead to an endless civil war.
Jonny Steinberg tells the tale of this unique marriage—its longings, its obsessions, its deceits—making South African history a page-turning political biography. Winnie and Nelson is a modern epic in which trauma doesn’t affect just the couple at its center, but an entire nation. It is also a Shakespearean drama in which bonds of love and commitment mingle with timeless questions of revolution, such as whether to seek retribution or a negotiated peace. Steinberg reveals, with power and tender emotional insight, how far these forever-entwined leaders would go for each other and where they drew the line. For in the end, both knew theirs was not simply a marriage, but a contest to decide how apartheid should be fought.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    May 2, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593665558
      • File size: 570378 KB
      • Duration: 19:48:17

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      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.

    • Library Journal

      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

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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