Traditional polygamy and modern infidelity: Nyathi's novel adapted for the screen

Traditional polygamy is not a concept Nyathi is unfamiliar with.

The author's maternal side was polygamous for generations; His grandfather, who died in 1979, had five wives, and his great-grandfather had 11 wives.

Her grandmother, her grandfather's first wife, established a matriarchal order on the farm where women lived together and even played a role in the selection of new spouses.

Speaking to BBC television, Nyathi describes this past order with the following words:

"There would be no internal conflict because everyone knew their place. When I asked my grandmother about this, she gave a practical answer; there were more hands to share both the physical and emotional burden. Everything was clear."

Polygamy is legally recognized in Zimbabwe and South Africa when certain traditional rules are adhered to. But what Nyathi observed as a young woman working in Harare in 2001 was quite different.

Nyathi, who stated that men who claim to be monogamous actually lead polygamous lives with secret women and secret houses, dealt with this "degenerate or modernized" structure in her novel, which is based on deception rather than consent.

The writer said, "I am not against polygamy. What I am against is lack of will. Once involved, it is wrong to change the rules of the game."

In the novel, the character named Joyce thinks that she is in a monogamous marriage, but she realizes that her businessman husband Jonasi has married three more women behind his back.

In the story, Joyce, as well as Jonasi's other wife, Matipa, who works in his company, are economically dependent on their husbands, which restricts women's decision-making power and autonomy, including negotiating safe sexual relations.

There are some differences between the work and the TV series adaptation. In the screen adaptation, the story was moved to South Africa, filmed in the Zulu language, and Jonasi's number of wives was reduced.

The narrative in the book is given entirely from the women's perspective. After the series aired, Amnesty International South Africa shared a guide on narcissistic abuse and the steps women can take.