Cover Image: Women Talking

Women Talking

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Member Reviews

Set in a remote Mennonite colony in Bolivia, the story follows a group of women who gather together to discuss their response to a series of horrific sexual attacks on women and girl perpetrated by men in their community. At the heart of the novel is the collective decision-making process of these women as they grapple with questions of justice, forgiveness, and the possibility of change. Toews deftly portrays the inner lives of her characters, exploring their fears, doubts, and hopes for the future as they confront the realities of their circumstances. Simultaneously, Toews examines the ways in which religious beliefs can both empower and constrain individuals, as well as the role of spirituality in shaping our understanding of morality and justice.

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This was a super book. Not an easy ready. Took me a few pages to get into it but then I was hooked. A ton to think about and discuss.

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I actually only came to read this as the upcoming film adaptation has been getting rave reviews, and I always like to read a book before seeing the movie. And as I initially had some difficulties keeping the characters and their relationships straight, it was helpful that I had the cast list handy to remind myself who was who, by picturing the actresses enacting each role. That said, I still found some spots slow or repetitious, and it is curious to me that the author switched the locale from Bolivia, scene of the real-life events this is based on, to the Ukraine, which is of course now, timelier. Still, questions of faith and autonomy over one's own body/future are never out of date.

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Great read! Looking forward to reading more from this author! I highly recommend this book and author to all!

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I was super excited to request this book after reading the synopsis. I wanted to know what in the world was going on in this community. When I got the approval I immediately began reading Woman Talking. It went on and on. I was bored and confused. Basically for a really long time it was just women talking. My mind started to wonder off. I even skipped ahead anticipating for something to transpire. I put the book down and tried to pick it up again. I've just resigned that the structure of the narrative just wasn't for me. I wasn't engaged and no longer interested.

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I was intrigued by the concept of Women Talking. I have a particular interest in "cult" related stories. However, I struggled to get into this book. I found it to be choppy and unreadable in parts. With such a triggering topic, it would have been helpful for there to be more flow.

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Just trying to clear my Netgalley shelf of older content that I read but forgot to or didn't rate/review. Recommended this as reading for my seniors, but the school wouldn't allow a copy in my classroom library.

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The plot sounded super interesting and I was really excited to read it, unfortunately I just could not get into it. The writing felt super disconnected from the topic and the characters and it was just really difficult to connect with.

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Women Talking is based on a true account of Mennonite women in Bolivia who were first thought to be "ghost raped" but in actuality were sedated by bovine anesthetic and raped. This involved over 300 females, from children to elderly.

I found myself unable to finish this book because it was very triggering. The concept about dialogue is one that is necessary but unfortunately for me, I could not finish. Not at this time...

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Women Talking is extraordinarily captivating, staggering. sad, joyous, intelligent and filled with bleak hope. A must read. It is based on a real event, but clearly a work of fiction, it takes you into the hearts and minds of Mennonite women and looks at how they live with their status and their faith.

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Obsessed with this book. Will read anything that Miriam Toews writes. She's so good at filling a room in this book, and the narrator feels like such a singular human being rather than how some characters feel like a collage of person's put together.

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Not what expected, though perhaps I should have based on the blurb. Less a compelling story and more a philosophical discussion. Not for me at all.

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Unlike anything I have ever read before - an absolutely creative and cut throat piece of work. The writing is fast paced and it leaves a lot for the mind to ponder after you close the last page. A gripping book I will suggest to every person I know.

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A Socratic, real-time unraveling of the inherent patriarchy of religion and its implicit gaslighting of women under the auspice of dogma. A very smart, subtle approach to religio-philosophical circuitousness. It remains clinical in tenor as a means to upset expectations of its content and the experience of sexist strictures, couching its interrogations within the inescapable hypocrisy and tradition of religion. Could have done without the August framework though.

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A thoughtful story you can sink deeply into. There is little action, literally just women talking about action, and doesn’t that feel honest? Their conversations are transcribed and told and given meaning by a man and isn’t that the way it usually is? Masterful. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

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This story had a strange and interesting voice. It was a very difficult read, not necessarily because of the voice, but because of the challenging content and descriptions of rape and abuse.

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Toews places the reader right in the middle of the action, beginning the book as the Mennonite women realize what's been done to them. Compact, compelling, and keeping the reader racketing back and forth between characters using taught dialogue, readers will have a hard time putting this one down.

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2.5 stars. Although this is a work of fiction, knowing that the events in the book were based on real life events, made it very heartbreaking. I did find it very confusing distinguishing between the women. They weren't written in such a way that they had their own distinct characteristics.

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I think this is actually quite a compelling story, but I just didn't find myself connecting to it at all. The writing was bland and couldn't grab my attention enough to continue to the end, though I am very curious how it all tied up!

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Although marketed as a feminist retelling of actual events, this book is more philosophical in nature. Basically, women of a Mennonite community are sexually assaulted during the middle of the night by men in their community. The blame is then put on the women, blaming they were assaulted by demons due to their sinful behavior. The women come together to determine whether they should: do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. During this meeting, a man named August (the narrator) is taking the minutes although the women can’t read or write (for reasons unknown until the end of the book). They come to their decision after analyzing scripture they’ve been told by the men, questioning if they can even trust what they’ve learned. Overall, this was a very quick read, not only due to the book being a little over 200 pages, but because of the writing style. Once I got used to the dialogue without any quotation marks, I zoomed through it, wanting to know what happens next!

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