Sue Nyathi, author of the Netflix series The Polygamist, says her book reflects the experiences of women in polygamous relationships. The series has been a huge success, reaching number two in the US on Netflix with over 60 million viewers worldwide. Nyathi draws from her own family history and cultural context, where polygamy was practiced by her ancestors as a means to increase household labor and resources. However, Nyathi critiques modern-day polygamy that relies on deception and lack of consent, rather than open relationships where all parties are aware of each other's roles.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-16,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
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When Sue Nyathi sent her debut novel The Polygamist to publishers, "they thought there was no market for the book" about a married Zimbabwean man and the women he seduces, she says.
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So the Zimbabwean author found her own editor, typesetter and artist, and in 2012 published 500 copies herself.
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It defied the publishers' predictions and became a huge hit.
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It has now been adapted for Netflix and is in the top 10 of the platform's most streamed series in more than 60 countries, reaching number two in the United States.
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Hollywood actress Taraji P Henson said the series had her in a "chokehold" and she binge-watched all 22 episodes in a single day.
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It is not, Nyathi is careful to point out, a straightforward story about polygamy.
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Her grandfather, who died in 1979, had five wives, her great-grandfather had 11.
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Her grandmother, the first woman his grandfather married, presided as matriarch over a farm where the wives lived together, and often helped choose the newcomers herself.
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wives → marry → newcomers
"There was no infighting, because everyone knew their place," Nyathi says.
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When she asked her grandmother how she made sense of it, the answer was practical - more hands to do the work, physical labour and emotional labour alike.
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answer → ask → work
"Everybody knows who's who in the zoo," Nyathi explains.
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Nyathi → know → zoo
Polygamy is legally recognised in Zimbabwe and South Africa if conducted under specific established customs.
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Polygamy → recognise → customs
But what Nyathi began to notice as a young working woman in Harare in 2001 was something else entirely.
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began → begin → 2001
Men who were purportedly monogamous were effectively living polygamous lives with secret women and secret households.
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who → live → women
That is the polygamy of her novel, what she calls "the modernised, or perverted, version" of the practice, relying on deception instead of consent
"
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I'm not against polygamy," Nyathi says.
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It's wrong for the goalposts to be shifted once you're inside."
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In the novel, Nyathi's heroine, Joyce, believes she has married into a union of one man and one woman, yet her husband, Jonasi, marries and sets up homes with three other women behind her back.
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husband → believe → back
There is no confession and no announcement; Joyce simply comes to realise, as the secrets accumulate and the women's lives intertwine, that her idea of a monogamous marriage has been a sham all along.
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idea → be → marriage
The question of who holds the power to negotiate and who does not runs through the whole storyline.
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who → hold → storyline
Jonasi is a wealthy, self-made businessman, and in a patriarchal society he makes the decisions about everything.
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he → make → everything
Although Joyce helped him build his empire, her finances are dependent on him.
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finances → help → him
The same goes for a later wife, Matipa who also works for Jonasi.
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who → go → Jonasi
As a result the women have less autonomy, which leaves them exposed.
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which → have → them
Age gaps compound the imbalance, Nyathi notes, down to the most intimate negotiations.
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Nyathi → compound → negotiations
An HIV thread runs through the story, and if "you're negotiating safe sex, you don't have a say in a relationship with those kinds of dynamics", she says.
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she → run → dynamics
There are a few differences between the book and the Netflix series - on the screen, the story is moved to South Africa, is shot in the Zulu language with subtitles and Jonasi has fewer wives.
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And unlike the television version, the novel is narrated entirely by Jonasi's wives.
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"I wanted to highlight women's voices," Nyathi says, to let each woman explain why she found herself in a relationship with a man who wouldn't be faithful to her.
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who → want → her
The themes resonate with many readers, she adds.
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Women write to her to say they see themselves in Joyce and Jonasi's other wives.
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Some add that they are married to a Jonasi figure and want out.
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After the series aired, Amnesty South Africa circulated guidance on narcissistic abuse and what steps a woman can take.
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"For some people, this is not just a series," Nyathi says.
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"It's their lived reality.
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It holds up a mirror to society."
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Not everyone has welcomed the reflection though.
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Kenyan civil servant Geoffrey Mosiria called for the series to be banned in Kenya, arguing that it conflates polygamy with cheating, fraud and abuse.
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Culture evolves, she says, and practices can be diluted or corrupted and she is showing what has happened to this one.
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Simply by making affluent black Africans the protagonists, she says she has opened many people's eyes.
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…and 28 more, not listed.
