A haunting tale of love, loss, and perseverance that echoes through the ages

The life story of Winnie Mandela remains one of the great dramas of our times, an ongoing tale of triumphs and tragedies that continues to unfold. In The Cry of Winnie Mandela, the highly acclaimed novel by Njabulo S. Ndebele, four ordinary women find their lives intertwined with the extraordinary stories of Penelope from ancient Greek mythology and Winnie Mandela of South Africa.

Each woman has spent years waiting for her man to return - Penelope for eighteen years while Odysseus was away, and Winnie for twenty-seven. Through a series of haunting conversations, they question themselves and each other about the nature of waiting and its impact on their lives. Ndebele masterfully weaves together their private struggles with the powerful public narratives that have shaped history.

In this tale of love, longing, and unwavering persistence, Ndebele explores the depths of the human spirit and the enduring strength of women in the face of adversity. The Cry of Winnie Mandela is a testament to the resilience of the human heart and a must-read for lovers of deeply moving, thought-provoking literature.

NJABULO S. NDEBELE is an established scholar, public figure, and author whose critical and creative writing have tackled the effects of the apartheid regime on black communities, the rhetoric of protest, democracy and reconciliation, and the system of higher education in South Africa. He regularly plays the role of a public intellectual through his interventions in the media on topical issues facing South Africa in its ongoing transition. Ndebele served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town from July 2000 to 2008 and he was inaugurated as the Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg in December 2012. He obtained his Masters degree in English Literature from Cambridge University, in the UK, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy, English and American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Denver, in the USA. Ndebele's published works include Fools and Other Stories (1983, 2006); Rediscovery of the Ordinary (1991, 2006); Bonolo and the Peach Tree (1991); Sarah, Rings and I (1993); Death of a Son (1996); the original edition of The Cry of Winnie Mandela (2003); and Fine Lines from the Box (2007).