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Women Talking

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Women Talking

By: Miriam Toews
Narrated by: Matthew Edison
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About this listen

Between 2005 and 2009, in a remote religious Mennonite colony, over a hundred girls and women were knocked unconscious and raped, often repeatedly, by what many thought were ghosts or demons, as a punishment for their sins. As the women tentatively began to share the details of the attacks - waking up sore and bleeding and not understanding why - their stories were chalked up to 'wild female imagination.'

Women Talking is an imagined response to these real events. Eight women, all illiterate, without any knowledge of the world outside their colony and unable even to speak the language of the country they live in, meet secretly in a hayloft with the intention of making a decision about how to protect themselves and their daughters from future harm. They have two days to make a plan, while the men of the colony are away in the city attempting to raise enough money to bail out the rapists (not ghosts as it turns out but local men) and bring them home.

©2018 Miriam Toews (P)2018 Penguin Random House Canada Ltd Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Thriller & Suspense Fiction Suspense

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All stars
Most relevant  
Sarah Paulley’s crafts this story into one of the most beautiful films of 2022, drawing from the most poignant lines of this book, and captures the essence of each character. She has made a beautiful work of art, inspired by this book.

THE FILM IS A MUST-WATCH

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I have listened to this book in a single day. It is beautifully imagined, and well narrated. The subject matter is truly awful (made much worse by knowing it’s inspired by true life events), yet the author managed to bring a real warmth and strength to the characters that offsets this, making it a thought provoking and rewarding listen.

Riveting

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I listened to this book in the UK having missed the film in the cinema and frustrated at the delay in the release date for streaming to UK audiences.
I am so pleased that I listened before I have seen the film. The novel is a treasure of concise spare narrative. Accurate. Careful. Precise. Respectful. At first I had wondered whether it might be a rhetorical device for rehearsing theological arguments about suffering and forgiveness. But I have found that it does so much more than this in setting this story in the context of the individual characters created by Toews, and their realistic life stories.
I pay tribute to women who have experienced sexual violence in any context, but particularly to those in religious communities who must find a way to make sense of their experiences in the context of their faith.
I pay tribute to the author, Miriam Toews, who has laboured to produce this novel and reflected with such profound honesty on the experiences of some of the women in the Mennonite community.

Narrative. Theology. Violence. Truth-telling.

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A unique and captivating story. The characters were very well rounded and the narrator is excellent. Heartbreaking yet life affirming novel with a variety of nuanced female characters. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Woman, Life, Freedom

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All the more haunting for being based on a true story, this had me gripped, It is not true crime and fiction and I didn't know what was going to happen all the time, I read it in one go and thought it odd at first that the narrator of the book is a man, but I can see why the author did this and it was performed brilliantly.

I listen to a lot of audio books and most are the same as reading them, some don't work as audio, but this was far better by being audio.

Gripping story, read briliantly

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Not sure how to put it into words, just a few minutes after finishing it. An experience!

incredible experience.

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A poignant depiction of the timeless struggle of woman, and the entangled relationships they endure and sacrifice for. Capturing such complications with beauty and humour.

Beautifully crafted.

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I came across the novel on a list of important reads from 2019. I had already read and enjoyed good few of them so figured I would give this one a shot and I was not disappointed!
Firstly, whilst it is a work of fiction and is a novel, it is based on true events, much like Truman Capote’s ‘In True Blood.’ It is a classic, and I’m sure ‘Women Talking’ will join it.
I had to google the story as it was not one with which I was familiar. The so called ‘ghost rapes’of 130 women and children in a Bolivian Mennonite colony. I couldn’t believe what I read. What was done to these women was absolutely horrific, and I felt more compelled to read the novel in a way to honour those women, so that they were seen.
The novel is set in a barn and is the discussion of 8 women deciding whether to leave or stay. From my position of privilege I didn’t understand how this discussion could fill a whole book! How could they stay? Why would they even want to? But of course their choice was much more complex than I could ever have fathomed. They had to consider the facts that they were illiterate, didn’t speak the language of the country, didn’t know where they were , as well as considering the consequences from their religious viewpoint, concerning forgiveness, heaven and hell whilst trying not to question a God who would allow these attrocitis to happen to them. There was also the fact that the men they left behind, the innocent and the guilty, were their fathers, brothers, uncles, and sons. Could they really walk away from their loved ones? Loved ones who would not have the skills to look after themselves the way the women had, like cooking and cleaning. There was a lot to consider.
The story is narrated by a man who had left the colony as a child but returned in adulthood, so had the ability to read and write but none of the skills needed for farming, and was therefore considered to be barely a man, weak and effeminate. He is charged with taking the minutes of these meetings between the women over the course of two days.
This is not fast paced or particularly cheerful. It is sad, painful and deeply moving, with moments of humour and light. It is a terribly important book and I’m glad Miriam Toews felt compelled to tell the story of these women, talking.

an instant classic

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I enjoyed this book, and can see that if I was better versed in analysing and comprehending literature, I'd get a lot more out of it. so I'm rating it 5 stars, because I think for people looking for a book to think about and analyse, it is perfect.

that said, it's not a very fun or plot heavy book. I wouldn't reccomended it for a casual listen

this is an English-lit book

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But then the prose, performance and narrative took over. The back and forth of the women's arguments, debates and discussions felt oddly compainonable.

Initially I struggled to settle to this

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