Manifesto

In the eastern lowlands of Bolivia lie dozens of Mennonite colonies, including the Manitoba Colony, named after the Canadian province. Here the community members live plainly, speaking Plautdietsch (an endangered German dialect), farming and abiding by ultraconservative values. From 2005 to 2009, the women of this colony lived in fear as a group of men (their husbands, brothers and fathers), would sedate the household with an animal anaesthetic and then rape the women and girls. In total there were at least 151 victims, ranging from age three to sixty-five. The men were caught and were imprisoned. 

This shocking true story is the basis for Miriam Toews' bestselling novel Women Talking (2018) and the recent film adaptation. 

In the novel, the story begins when the men have been caught and taken away to the city to stand trial. Other men from the community are heading to the city to bail out the attackers. The bishop of the colony, Peters, has encouraged the women to forgive the men, to guarantee everyone goes to heaven. Peters advises the women that they will be excommunicated if they cannot forgive. Knowing that the accusers will be in danger when the men return, a group of eight women gather to decide what to do next. They meet secretly in a hay loft and determine they have three options: stay and forgive; stay and fight back; or leave. 

Over two days, the women gather to hold a referendum. They talk through the various options, the pros and cons of each. They all agree they want to keep themselves and their children safe, but do not know the best way of doing this. They also realise the risks of each decision. To stay and forgive means succumbing to future abuse, to fight back will result in violence and not everyone will survive, to leave means abandoning the elderly and they will not be able to take their teenage sons. These women also have no resources, are illiterate, and do not know whether they will be welcomed in other Mennonite colonies. Their faith is a driving force in their lives, and has been put to the test through this difficult decision.

Toews' novel is fascinating, and the female characters are all clearly drawn. What troubled me about the novel while reading it is that the narrator is August Epp, the colony's school teacher. August is invited to join the women and record the minutes of the discussion, as the women cannot read nor write. I initially found this device jarring as these poor women are denied agency once again to have their story transcribed by a man who chooses what does and does not get recorded. Plus, he is not a disinterested narrator, and includes his own musings in the minutes. But as I came to the end of the novel, I realised that is the whole point. Depriving women even a basic education means that they are powerless to do anything without the assistance of men. 

I am really interested to see the film version of this novel and I suspect it will actually be better than the book. Written and directed by Sarah Polley - who won an Oscar (and many other awards) for her screenplay adaptation - the film stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Sheila McCarthy, Judith Ivey, Frances McDormand and Ben Whishaw. Will provide an update once I have seen it.