Reviews

Women Talking by Miriam Toews

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hanaqasrawi's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

bibrarian_'s review against another edition

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dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

sandiet's review against another edition

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4.0

I know I said I wouldn't read another Miriam Toes book...I lied. Curiosity got the better of me after hearing a lot of recommendations, so I decided to give it a read. Another fictional novel about true events that happened to the women in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Ms. Toews has given these women a voice, something that they most likely will never have. The novel is narrated by a male who has been asked to take the minutes of the meetings in which the women are deciding what to do. Having a male narrator is odd given the circumstances as to why the meetings are being held however just like the women in these communities August Epp has been marginalized and most of the males consider him effiminate. A good story that I'm glad I took the time to read.

tigerlillymelody's review against another edition

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3.75

An interesting meditation on the value of belief in times and places where there is no safety or justice and your beliefs just might be what is betraying you. Obviously this book did not exist yet, but I wish that we had read this instead of Ibsen’s Dollhouse or Chopin’s The Awakening in high school as this resonated with me much more in the way in which it discusses the oppressive weight of patriarchy and trying to balance needs of personal empowerment with the needs of those in your community who depend on you.

kdawn999's review against another edition

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4.0

This may be the most compelling premise for a novel I've ever come across (which is why I put everything else down to read it). The entirety is presented in the "meeting minutes" of an assembly of Mennonite women who, on finding they and their children have been drugged and raped for years by several men in the community, debate their next course of action. Oh, and this is based on actual events uncovered in a colony in Bolivia in 2008.

This novel does not take the most direct angle on the story. We have a male narrator taking the minutes and interpreting the events for the illiterate women, the women speak a dialect of Low German-Dutch-Prussian, and the women still want to adhere to their traditions and religion. The multilayered cultural removes make the narrative read slowly--while shocking secrets and details are revealed in an understated way.

It's about grappling to find a perspective on unspeakable trauma and how revolutions are created from conversations. I won't quickly forget this novel or learning about the events that prompted it. I'm interested in seeing the movie adaptation too.