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A review by reed_with_read
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
5.0
I can see why people likened this to "A Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.
The sad part of this is, this happened.
Whilst the conversation of the women is imagined, the events that lead up to the plot are real.
This book takes an interesting choice of being set out as the meeting minutes of the women.
The minutes are taken by a man of the village, as none of the women can write or read.
Through his perspective, we get added context to the words of the women.
Who they are, their family history, how he knows them, and their place in the events.
The events themselves are never explicitly talked about, with details not delved into.
This is partly because the women are afraid to speak of the despicable events, and partly because some of the women want to have them stay in the past so they can move on.
The women have a limited time to come to their conclusion if they are staying or leaving.
And for the most part, this goes around in circles, as the decision is weighted on both sides.
Leaving means being vulnerable to the outside world and having to find a way to fend for themselves.
Staying means forgiving the men, and potentially allowing it all to happen again.
The narrator also adds a lot of himself to the meeting minutes.
Something I feel may have annoyed other people, but that I found both a little endearing and a little ironic.
He has a troubled past and wants to help these women the best he can.
But in adding his own story into the notes, he is sort of adding a bit of focus back on himself.
In a society where the women are often sidelined for the males of the village to take priority.
This book was a bleak look into what happens when women are so oppressed they lose all power.
This along with "The Handmaids Tale" should be a grim warning of how these types of dynamics play out.
And a dark look into societies with deeply rooted sexism.
I don't think it is a bad thing that this echoes "the Handmaid's Tale", because I believe it adds to it.
Adding proof that Margaret Atwood's words of warning were not grim fairytales, but likely truths under the right circumstances.
The sad part of this is, this happened.
Whilst the conversation of the women is imagined, the events that lead up to the plot are real.
This book takes an interesting choice of being set out as the meeting minutes of the women.
The minutes are taken by a man of the village, as none of the women can write or read.
Through his perspective, we get added context to the words of the women.
Who they are, their family history, how he knows them, and their place in the events.
The events themselves are never explicitly talked about, with details not delved into.
This is partly because the women are afraid to speak of the despicable events, and partly because some of the women want to have them stay in the past so they can move on.
The women have a limited time to come to their conclusion if they are staying or leaving.
And for the most part, this goes around in circles, as the decision is weighted on both sides.
Leaving means being vulnerable to the outside world and having to find a way to fend for themselves.
Staying means forgiving the men, and potentially allowing it all to happen again.
The narrator also adds a lot of himself to the meeting minutes.
Something I feel may have annoyed other people, but that I found both a little endearing and a little ironic.
He has a troubled past and wants to help these women the best he can.
But in adding his own story into the notes, he is sort of adding a bit of focus back on himself.
In a society where the women are often sidelined for the males of the village to take priority.
This book was a bleak look into what happens when women are so oppressed they lose all power.
This along with "The Handmaids Tale" should be a grim warning of how these types of dynamics play out.
And a dark look into societies with deeply rooted sexism.
I don't think it is a bad thing that this echoes "the Handmaid's Tale", because I believe it adds to it.
Adding proof that Margaret Atwood's words of warning were not grim fairytales, but likely truths under the right circumstances.