Women Talking by Miriam Toews

It has been a long time since I read a book in one day! Women Talking is that book. I cannot really explain fully why it was so fascinating and engrossing to me, but I will try to tell you a little about it.

The book is based on true events that happened and is the fictionalized retelling of the minutes that were taken during a secret meeting of women in a Mennonite colony in Bolivia. The eight women in the meeting, as well as most of their "sisters" in the colony were drugged and raped and assaulted by men in the colony. The men drugged them, assaulted them, and the women woke up with the bruises and damage and cannot remember what happened. The elders of the colony first blame the attacks on demons and sin, leaving the women (and young, young girls) to believe that it is somehow their fault that this has happened, so they stay quiet. But they finally find it out about the group of men and the drug, and the men are taken to jail "for their own protection." But the leader has declared that the men will be released and the women must decide what happens next. They are given three choices to "solve" the problem. The women can choose to: 1. Do nothing. 2. Stay and fight. 3. Leave. None of these choices will be easy and each opens up so many possibilities for more hurt, separation, and indignities. But it is the humor and strength of these women, the doggedness with which they debate the choices, and the intensity of the conflict that kept me reading and reading. The lives and doctrines of the Mennonites has to be discussed at length, but the danger that the women have endured and could experience again fills the discussion with desperation. Yet the women are so intelligent and caring that they truly just want to protect each other and their children without going against God or their way of life.

If you like books about strong women and those who, in their own ways, must overcome, then I think you should give Women Talking a try. For me, it was engrossing and empowering. I hope it will be for you as well.