I honestly couldn't finish this book. I thought the writing was very choppy, and the narrator would always stop, and talk to the reader which really messed up the pacing of the novel. It was very info-dumpy. Every time a new character was mentioned on the page, the narrator would halt, and describe their personality, what they were wearing, why they were in the colony, which took me right out of the story, and I couldn't engage. I hadn't heard much about the book. I thought the summary on Net Galley and Goodreads was interesting enough, that I decided I would request it. I was excited when I was approved, but I was pretty let down by it, sadly.

Very different from Toews' other work. This is a quiet novel, and talky. There is little to no action, all of the prime movement of the novel takes place both before and presumably after the narrative is complete. This is an interesting look at a Mennonite community and a meditation on faith, its interpretation, and what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society.

Would be a good book group choice as there is much to discuss.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for gifting me with a special ARC. In exchange I offer my unbiased review of Women Talking by Miriam Toews.

Just WOW! I’m not sure where to begin. This story which is essentially just a conversation amongst a group of Mennonite women is unputdownable. The story is infuriating, heartbreaking, poignant, haunting, entertaining and completely compelling. The knowledge that this book is based on a true event is beyond shocking. This would make for a wonderful bookclub discussion.

I tried getting into this and found it heavy going, therefore gave up. It may just be me, but the premise was unexceptional and seemed to be taking advantage of current climate.

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC.
This reads like a theater play of the absurd. Women have been raped by serial rapist and must determine what they have to do next, no support from any male leaders of their colony. I hate to think that there are actually places where this can happen.

This was a DNF for me. I have a 25% rule. I read 25% and if I am not enjoying it or finding myself dreading picking up a book, I stop. Well, because this book is on the shorter side, I gave this one until 50% and I just could not do it. I learned absolutely nothing in half a book and I found the writing style difficult to read largely due to the lack of quotation marks. There is no character development and because these are unusual names, I found it hard to remember which character was which. Further, there is no plot. Up to 50% (and I’m assuming the rest of the book), takes place in one day and the women spend over one third of the book making a single decision - stay or go. I found it painfully boring and difficult to follow. This is the first book I have not been able to finish in over a year.

This is a fast, disturbing read. The women for which this book is named are illiterate Mennonites who only speak Low German, even though they live in Bolivia. They have been drugged and abused horrifically. I agree with another reviewer that it would have been nice to have the story narrated from the viewpoint of a woman and not a man, but it is still a haunting, horrifying story. In the words of Aaron Mahnke, "The scariest stories are true".

It was an ... interesting choice to have this story of women be told by a male protagonist. I really wish that the story had been told from the perspective of one of the women, because having August be the narrator damped the horror of the assault the women had all faced. Overall, I felt like this book didn't take a strong enough stance against the abuse that was happening - it really felt secondary to August's journey and I really didn't care for that. Rape of women shouldn't be presented as a plot point in a man's story that helps him to change.

Eight Mennonite women from the Molotschna colony gathered to have a secret meeting to decide whether to stay and fight, stay and do nothing, or leave, after what had happened. Minutes were taken by the narrator of the story, August Epp, who was the only one they can trust, who can read and write.

The heated and intense conversations (at times, funny) went on for two days. Pros and cons were listed, and many of their arguments were based on their need to be in God's good graces, and whether or not God will approve of their decision. Ironically, anything of God's words, his teachings and commandments were taught by their bishop, Peters, and husbands, because these women were illiterate and weren't able to read the Bible.

Truth is, I had a hard time getting into the story and characters, and I desperately wanted to, especially when this is based on true events.

As much as I liked the arguments and debates that went on between the ladies, I found them repetitive. And the numerous characters with difficult names (I had a hard time recalling who is who), and the women trying to take over conversations (changing from one topic to another, and then back) sometimes make it quite a confusing read.

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA for providing a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are of my own.

A full review will be posted on my blog and Goodreads, and shared on Twitter and Litsy, closer to publication day.

I found this very heard to read and understand, unfortunately. Keeping the characters straight made understanding the story difficult, I almost wish she was more of a non-fiction account of the real story.

I finished reading this book over a week ago now and I'm still torn about how I feel about it. When my request from NetGalley was approved for this one, I was so excited and started reading it immediately.
This is such a powerful and important story. A group of Mennonite women have recently been drugged, raped and beaten by male members of their colony. The women decide to meet secretly to discuss their options. They have three choices: do nothing, stay and fight or leave.
I didn't particularly care for the structure of this book. It's told by a male narrator as he's taking the minutes of the women's meeting. I found it difficult to follow at times as there were so many characters. The flow just seemed choppy and confusing. I had such high hopes for this novel and was left wanting more.

Excellent book by Toews. Strong writing that is thought-provoking, emotional, and powerful. Unforgettable stories that will have your heart breaking and your eyes tearing up. A haunting read that you won't stop thinking about long after you've turned the final page.

I don't know how this book got published.

A fictitious account of actual events, a dark and disturbing subject with a plethora of 4 & 5 star reviews. What could go wrong? Well, in the case of this book, everything.

The entire book is spelled out in the description. Eight Mennonite women discover that themselves, along with 100+ other women and children in their community, have been drugged and raped by the community men over the course of two years.

These eight women gather secretly to discuss what they are going to do now that the truth has come to light. They have three choices: stay and do nothing, stay and fight or leave.
What follows is that secret conversation as told by the meeting minutes taken by August Epp. Although he is a man, August is the only person they can trust that can read and write.

The entire book is made up of one conversation, or I should say the minutes of one conversation. This leaves the style of the story less than savory. Long ramblings of what is, in my experience, not consistent with the usual format when taking minutes. August also includes his personal thoughts which is counterintuitive as well as distracting.

The women have unusual names and all seem to be related in some way or another leaving it nearly impossible to decipher who is who for most of the story. The same three choices are pondered over and over with little progress towards a decision until the very end. I felt like I read the same conversation 100 times.

Religion is prevalent in everything these women discuss as they try to figure out how to save themselves without falling out of God's grace. I would dare say that 3/4 of this story revolves around religion and that alone is enough to turn me off from this book.

While the real life account of what happened to these women is compelling, the author ruined any chance for the reader to connect and become invested in their plight with an unbearable format and lackluster character development.

Now for the positive: it is a very short book.

If I had to choose an audience for this book it would be a Christian women's church book club.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you don’t know much about Mennonites this book is going to be an education. A terrifying one, because despite the fact that it’s recognized as a religion, it operates very much like a cult. Although, like some religions, it treats women very much like substandard subservient submissive members of their ranks. This book, and here’s something particularly terrifying, was based on real events that took place in a Mennonite colony in Bolivia where the men would systematically render women unconscious in the night and rape and brutalize them and this was for a while dismissed by their elders as possession or demon work. And mind you, these are not merely close knit, these are thoroughly knit together and interknit communities, so everyone knows everyone and everyone is related to everyone, so basically these men were raping their relatives oftentimes and this went on and on. Truth…so often way more frightening than fiction, isn’t it. And, of course, such a timely subject for the Metoo era. SO the book is basically a fictionalized account of the aftermath of the rapes told through minutes taken by what seems to be the only friendly compassionate men in the community. Also relevant because Mennonite women are not educated to read or write, merely to slave away and breed. And the entire book is a meeting trying to figure out what to do, options being…do nothing, stay and fight or leave. The entire book is…well, precisely what the title says. It reads like an intricate play. So structurally (and probably thematically) I imagine this isn’t for everyone. In fact if it was any longer, it wouldn’t work for me either. Pedestrian as it may seem, I believe books should be enjoyable (not light and bubbly, by any means, but a joy to spend time with irrespective of the subject and style) and this one is difficult to purely enjoy. For many obvious reasons, difficulty of the situation being the foremost, but also because it is essentially a 240 page conversation. A conversation among a group that chooses to live in the most brutally limiting, oppressive, unjust community, while surrounded by the modern world that (in general and in a lot of areas) does offer considerably more freedoms and opportunities.It’s an interesting and important work, though, and the author being of Mennonite descent herself, lands it gravitas and credibility. I should mention that, although advertised as such, this isn’t really another entry into the currently popular women dystopia genre. Not in any traditional meaning of it. But what inspired this read in a way is a quote I read by Ms. Zumas (who has in fact a more conventional women dystopian book out) saying something about how from a feminist perspective women are already in dystopia. And that’s just entirely too poignant and scary to contemplate. Although contemplated it must be, especially in view of recent events and what US Supreme Court looks like now and what it means for the future. Then again a more prominent dystopian author Margaret Atwood did say that the sheer fact that these books are out there right now means we’re not in a dystopia yet, because surely a proper totalitarian dystopia would forbid such things to exist. So maybe not quite there yet, just rapidly approaching. Much like climate catastrophe. So yeah, these are the thoughts this book inspires, among many others. Also…Mennonites…scarier than you might think. Never going to think about them and the Amish at the farmer’s stands the same away again. Thanks Netgalley.

I was given an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
I never thought I’d read this much dystopian fiction but I never thought I’d be living in such dystopian times. This one is amazing- I don’t want to give but so much away, but it’s definitely my favorite of the genre so far. It is a intimate window into a culture not often seen by an author who has lived that path, but it is relatable to any woman who has walked through the world with a woman’s subjectivity. A feminist classic

A shocking raw novel based on a true horrific case.A group of Mennonite women were attacked nightly in their sleep,At first thinking it was an otherworldly experience they would wake up exhausted at times bloody clothes disarrayed.One night a trap is set and to their horror they were being drugged and raped by their own men.The men are arrested and the women have to decide whether to stay or go.
They form a woman’s only symposium and discuss the pros& conc.An intimate revealing novel of woman’s struggles to protect themselves perfect for the #metoo era. #netgalley#WomenTalking #Bloomsbury.