A review by crrybbycancerr
Women Talking by Miriam Toews

dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

3.5 this story was important and fascinating, I had never known about the attack on these Mennonite women and it was definitely very informative about life inside their colonies. Learning about how something like them being drugged and raped in their sleep and it being turned around on them like it was gods punishment for their own impure thoughts was heart wrenching. The amount of gaslighting and brainwashing these women had to go through its amazing to see them gather together and stand fight for their rights. It was a powerful story but the main reason I gave it a 3.5 is because it was written in the male perspective which was frustrating for me to read. His own inner monologue while these women were talking about the horrific abuse they endured and then to hear his thoughts about his fascination with one of the women was frustrating to say the least. I get what the author was trying to get at but it just felt gross to me like I was reading the Virgin suicides again or something. Though the narrator in this story was a little more sensitive to the information privy to him. But I digress my favorite part because I listened to it on audible was the women singing together at the very end I thought that was a powerful way to end the story. 

I am grateful for the insight I was given into a religion I don’t know that much about it was very enlightening to learn more about their culture even if I do not agree with the ways the patriarchs of their colony chose to deal with the trauma their women endured. It’s important to give a voice to these women and their stories and I think they author did that masterfully.
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