The premise of this book is engaging and timely. The execution of the content is just a bit too dark for me personally.

I wanted so badly to enjoy this book. However, it did not work for me. There was very little character development. Women Talking is told from the perspective of August, who was at one time excommunicated from the Menonnite community, who returned due to his love for Ona. Because August could read/write, he was asked to take down the minutes for the womens’ meetings when they discussed how they would proceed, separately from the men. The most character development I felt was when August told Ona why he was in prison and what it was like for him. This discussion was over very quickly. While I didn’t feel like there was character development on the individual level, there was some character development if you look at the Menonnite community as a whole, especially the women. However, I was still wanting more. I would have preferred if this story was told as a well-researched, in-depth nonfiction book rather than told from the minutes of the womens’ meetings.

This review will be posted on Amazon.com, Library Thing and on my personal webpage at https://sites.google.com/site/marysbookcorner/home.

Miriam Toews is a wonderful storyteller. She's written extensively of the Mennonite people in many of her novels and her slightly eccentric way of writing a story is unique and refreshing. this is the story of women who secretly meet to talk about whether they should stay in their community or go. It's set in current times but they live in a way where they are limited. Not many rights, women are to follow certain expectations and men take advantage of that. But it's not so easy to just leave. There are many things to deliberate and that is the book, the taking into account why they should stay or go. It's not only timely but also slightly humorous as is all her books. Dark comedy. just loved this!!

I expected a rather heavy mood to this book, based on the summary. The heaviness is matched up with some detached storytelling, done on purpose because it is all written from the point of view of someone they talked into taking notes about the women's meetings. If you like unusual narrators who are retelling the story, this is for you, but if you need your reading to follow the laws of grammar, you may have issues with this book.

This was, unfortunately, another DNF for me. The summary on Goodreads (and the cover, which is artful and gorgeous) completely captivated me, as but the prose simply did not hold up. The narration is disjointed (it didn't help that my e-copy had a plethora of formatting issues) and nothing within the first few chapters grabbed me enough to want to continue reading. As another reviewer mentioned, I also have a rule that if I dread picking something up, I won't force myself to finish it. I'd like to maybe come back to this eventually, but for now, I'm leaving it unfinished.

I don't like to give star ratings to books I haven't finished, but as I have to on this platform, I'll give it two stars for an excellent premise that wasn't well executed.

Miriam Toews is a great writer, with first-hand knowledge of Mennonite life. This novel is based on actual rape and incest within remote Mennonite communities where girls and women are drugged unconscious and ravaged in the night by what they are told by their religious leaders, husbands, and fathers must be "ghosts" or "demons." Despite subsequent trials, publicity, arrests, and attempts at intervention, these "unwelcome visitors" as the rapists are euphemistically referred to by the elders have not fully been eradicated, and this knowledge makes reading Women Talking all the more chilling.

Martin is the sole male allowed within this circle of frightened females, plotting their escape. His soul is as tortured as theirs are, and he helps them as their scribe and procurer. Martin's unrequited love for Ona is as tragic as Toews's descriptions of frail little child victims afflicted with STDs, transgender identity, or Narfa (insanity). To go through all that while having a brother or father standing trial for something of which no one will speak must be so utterly enervating. This community is isolated linguistically (they speak a low German dialect), and the women are kept illiterate in this day and age which is so rage inducing I could hardly see straight to read this.

"In 2011, eight men belonging to the Manitoba Mennonite Colony were convicted of a series of sexual assaults committed from 2005 to 2009. Prior to the discovery, the rapes had been attributed to a ghost or demon. The victims were reported to be between the ages of 3 and 65. The offenders used a type of gas used by veterinarians to sedate animals during medical procedures. Despite long custodial sentences for the convicted men, an investigation in 2013 reported continuing cases of similar assaults."-Wikipedia

Women Talking is based on the above-mentioned rapes. The women in this book are contemplating their choices on how to deal with assaults:

1. Do Nothing
2. Stay and Fight
3. Leave

The Women secretly gather to discuss their choices and how to proceed. As none of them can read or write they ask a man, August, to take notes for them. As they share their feelings, thoughts, emotions, he writes them while also sharing bits of information himself to them. Naturally the women are angry, some are now pregnant as a result of the rapes, and some have daughters who have been attacked as well. Not only are they talking about what happened to them, they are talking about their religion, their faith, and the men in their community who are going to bail these men out. This is a very relevant book and it is frightening to think that this book is written about what really happened to a group of Mennonite Women. Attacks that happened in the night while the women were drugged. They wake up bruised, bleeding, sore, missing clothing, etc.

There is a short book which mainly takes places as the women sit and talk. As I mentioned, they talk about their faith, the role of forgiveness, what to do with anger, etc. I appreciated how they talked together and voiced their thoughts on their choices. Although they may disagree at times and even feel anger, they work things out and keep discussing their choices as they have a small window of time in which to decide.

So why three stars? Which, by the way, means I thought the book was good and I enjoyed it (in case you were wondering) At times, I felt the book dragged a little and I wanted to skim. Perhaps in the way this story was told, hindered my enjoyment a little. I think this book could have been told without the August's character. I think he was added to share some info and to show how Ona was showing him kindness by asking him to help. But for me personally, parts of his backstory got in the way. I wanted the entire book to be about the women and what happened to them. Do you need to know some information about Mennonites to enjoy this book? I don't think so but it may help give some readers a general understanding on their history, their close knit communities and their faith.

Overall, a good book that addresses horrific assaults and how women of faith came together to talk and make a decision together.



I received a copy of this book from Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

In 'Women Talking', eight Mennonite women conduct a secret meeting debating whether to leave to colony, stay and fight, or do nothing. Their decision is based off of the fact that the women and girls in the colony are not safe. The men have been repeatedly violating them every night, drugging and attacking them in their sleep. The women will do anything to protect each other and their daughters, but they are uneducated about basic things as well as the world around them. The men are off in the city, trying to raise bail money to get the rapists out and bring them home so the women only have days to decide. Will they stay in the colony and continue to put their children in harms way? Or will they leave everything they've ever known behind? 'Women Talking' was a haunting account that was based off of a true story. It is terrifying to think that this has happened and could be happening to women now. While I found the writing a bit difficult to get through, I found the subject matter to be powerful.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for the ARC.

Miriam Toews creates a fictional retelling of the rape of over 100 Mennonite women and young girls a community in Bolivia. These women have three choices
1. Stay & Fight
2. Do Nothing
3. Leave

I think the author does an incredible job of capturing the inner turmoil of the decisions these women would have to make. She gives a voice to the million thoughts they would have to wrestle through. The loss of community and how even the hard choice, the right choice might make them lose their families.

I do wish that the author would have gone into more detail about certain individuals and also felt some parts were repetitive and long. But I also recognize what the she was trying to convey.
I really enjoyed this book!

I will post this review on my social media review page closer to the date of publication.

Powerful and horrifying and massively trigger full. It's well done, I think, but I don't know much about the real events that inspired it. The little I do know makes me pretty sure this ending is not what really happened at all but i'm going to have to look it up. I liked the format and the characters of this story though, I think it turned well to Express the events but not fully have to describe all of the attacks. The small bits we did get were so awful that more of it would have quickly become desensitizing.

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.

Women Talking by author Miriam Toews is a shocking, heart filled novel that revolves around illiterate women who want a change. A great novel!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of Women Talking in exchange for an honest review.

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.