Women Talking is a novel by Canadian author Miriam Toews, published in 2018. The book is based on real-life events that occurred in a Mennonite colony in Bolivia, where women were repeatedly drugged and raped by a group of men in their community. The story is told from the perspective of eight women who gather secretly in a hayloft to discuss whether they should stay and fight or leave the colony altogether.
The novel is structured as a record of the women's conversations, as transcribed by a male outsider who has been asked to assist them. The women are illiterate and cannot write down their thoughts themselves. They ask the man, August Epp, to record their discussions so they can decide as a group about their future. Through their conversations, we learn about their experiences of violence and abuse, their relationships with the men in the colony, and their struggles to maintain their faith in the face of such atrocities.
Toews handles the complicated subject matter with sensitivity and nuance, exploring how power, gender, and religion intersect in these women's lives. She also shows the power of community and collective action in the face of adversity. The women in the novel are not passive victims but rather active agents who refuse to be silenced or ignored. They debate, argue, and ultimately make a decision together about what to do.
One of the most striking aspects of the novel is Toews' use of language. The conversations between the women are rich and complex, full of humor, irony, and pathos. Toews also uses repetition and poetic language to create an incantatory effect, emphasizing the importance of women's words and the power of language to shape their lives.
Ultimately, The novel explores the intersection of gender, power, and religion and how these forces shape women's lives in the Mennonite colony. The women's conversations revolve around questions of agency, autonomy, and the right to make their own decisions, especially in the face of the violence and abuse they have suffered. The novel also examines the role of community and collective action in addressing injustice, as the women must decide together how to respond to the men's crimes. Alongside these themes, Toews also delves into the power of language, particularly in how it can be used to oppress and liberate. The women's conversations are full of linguistic play, repetition, and poetic language, highlighting the importance of language as a means of resistance and self-expression. Finally, the novel confronts the enduring problem of violence against women and the systemic ways such violence is often ignored, minimized, or blamed on the victims. Through the women's voices in the novel, Toews offers a searing indictment of patriarchal power structures and a powerful call for justice and equality.
