Women Talking

Author: Miriam Toews
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Canadian
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 240
Publisher: Knopf Canada
First Published: August 21, 2018
First Line: "My name is August Epp -- irrelevant for all purposes, other than that I've been appointed the minute-taker for the women's meetings because the women are illiterate and unable to do it themselves."

Book Description from GoodReads: Based on actual events that happened between 2005 and 2009 in a remote Mennonite community where more than 100 girls and women were drugged unconscious and assaulted in the night by what they were told (by the men of the colony) were "ghosts" or "demons," Miriam Toews' bold and affecting novel Women Talking is an imagined response to these real events.

The novel takes place over forty-eight hours, as eight women gather in secret in a neighbour's barn while the men are in a nearby town posting bail for the attackers. They have come together to debate, on behalf of all the women and children in the community, whether to stay or leave before the men return. Taking minutes is the one man trusted and invited by the women to witness the conversation--a former outcast whose own surprising story is revealed as the women speak.

By turns poignant, witty, acerbic, bitter, tender, devastating, and heartbreaking, the voices in this extraordinary novel are unforgettable. Toews has chosen to focus the novel tightly on a particular time and place, and yet it contains within its 48 hours and setting inside a hayloft an entire vast universe of thinking and feeling about the experience of women (and therefore men, too) in our contemporary world. In a word: astonishing. 

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3/5 stars

My Review: I picked this book up for a few reasons. It's by a well-known Canadian author, it's based on an actual event and I live in a community with a large Mennonite population, so the Mennonite aspect intrigued me. 

This little book is a fictional tale based on the abuse that was endured by a group of Mennonite women and girls, who live in a secluded colony in Bolivia. The abuse included repeatedly being drugged and raped by a group of males in their small community.  The women meet in secret to discuss what they should do - do nothing, stay and fight or leave the colony. Readers are privy to the dialogue and debate between these women, who form two different groups, each with a distinct opinion of what the women should do. 

The subject matter isn't for the faint of heart and is quite emotional. The main emotion I felt was anger. Anger for the sexual abuse these women and female children endured. Anger for their lack of power and choices. Anger for their lack of education and how they were kept secluded and denied access to the outside world. 

Women Talking would provide book groups with a lot of discussion points, especially those who have strong religious convictions since the struggle to decide what these women do is firmly rooted in their religious beliefs. I personally had a difficult time connecting with this aspect of the book and this caused me to put down the book several times. Since this book is largely one big conversation between the women as they argue and struggle to decide what to do, I'd suggest reading this book in one or two sittings.

Overall, this was a unique and emotional read that focuses on abuses many women still sadly endure. Even though this book is only 240 pages, this book packs quite a punch.