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Women Talking

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

incredible experience.

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This is a profound and deeply moving story, made more so by being based in truth and spending its time examining truth.
It is also real, and funny in places. The characters and the interplay between them is disturbingly accurate!
I may have finished this book, but it’s so thought provoking that I know it’ll be a long time until it’s finished with me.

Talking and listening

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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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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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This is a moral/philosophical dilemma brought to life through dialogue and some narration but somehow is it alive, funny and utterly compelling. Feminist writing at its best, using the metaphor of a world strange to most to help us see our own struggles for freedom and safety.

I really, really rate this book in content and style

Masterful story telling

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