A review by ktrain3900
Women Talking by Miriam Toews

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is one of those books that you finish it and you go "ok, that was pretty good" but you're not quite sure why or what else to say. Nonetheless, I'll try: The characters were largely nuanced and interesting, despite that you can only know them in a very superficial way. Was the narrator reliable? Maybe? Probably? He seemed to know about as much about taking minutes as some of my coworkers, although at least he has the excuse of being a Mennonite ex-con. It's based on a heartbreaking true story, and one whose victims needed a voice. I'm not a religious person, but the theme of faith never bothered me (after all, what else would these women know?). Overall I think the author does well with the conversational format, even if it lends itself to losing track of time because you just don't get many pauses.
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