Women Talking by Miriam Toews

Eight Mennonite women have two days to decide their next move.  Will they run -- leave the settlement and the only life they have ever known?  Will they stay and remain subservient to a culture in which women are all but invisible?  Might they take unspeakable measures and risk their relationship with God in a superb effort to claim their freedom and search for independence and identity?

In two days, the men who have been systematically sexually abusing these women, as well as several young children, will be released from jail.  Gathering in the hayloft of a senile community member, the women meet secretly to discuss their future.  The fear of leaving sickens them, as does the fear of staying.  

For the past two years, the women have been repeatedly violated, and were told evil spirits came to them in the night to punish them.  The women believe these lies until one of them fights off the belladonna depressant used to sedate her, coming face to face with her attacker.  No spoilers here...suffice it to say the agonizing realization of what has been happening paralyzes some of the women while mobilizing others.

Since most of the women cannot write, they enlist the help and the skills of an expelled Mennonite man to keep minutes of their meetings.  There is no wonder this based on truth book has become the subject of a much talked about film.

On a Happy 2023 note...each year I choose a reading theme and try to wedge in as many books as possible that fit that mold.  Last year I chose tween books that I had somehow missed along the way, books like Black Beauty and Mary Poppins.  Books for the 9-12 year old age group are playful, imaginative, and --in my opinion -- too often sad.  But with the plethora of fine writers in that category, it is easy to circumvent those tear jerkers.  

2023?  I'll be checking out all sorts of mysteries -- cozies, police procedurals, locked rooms, supernatural, local color.  FB me with any suggestions you have for me please.

Thanks for stopping by.

Stay healthy. Stay safe. Stay happy.