Women Talking

THE WALKING BOOK CLUB SNEAKER RATINGS:

Motivation to Move: 4.7 Sneakers
Quality of Narration: 4.5 Sneakers
Overall Experience: 4.7 Sneakers
Moving and listening time: 6 hours moving and listening time
Listening and moving time at 1.4 speed, approximately 4 hours of active time

REVIEW: Not What Was Expected

Members enjoyed Women Talking by Miriam Toews, giving a 4.7 Sneaker Rating for the Overall Experience. The book is based on a true story of Mennonite women in Bolivia during the mid-2000s who reported waking up in bed with injuries as if from sexual assaults but with no memory of events. The colony’s men blamed demons and told others it was their “wild female imaginations.” However, the story skips over the assaults and, instead, deals with the existential questions facing the women. Do they stay or leave?

The audiobook keeps you motivated to move as the women discuss the pros, cons, religious implications, and moral aspects. “The discrepancies between our modern-day laws versus the Mennonite religion were interesting to contemplate, especially their final decision to leave the community rather than fight. The audiobook was very thought-provoking.” 4.7 Sneakers for Motivation to Move.

As you get further into the story, you realize why the narrator is male, adding a clever layer by bringing a male perspective into the account. Members sped up the narrator ranging from 1.15 to 1.4 x normal speed, making the Women Talking audiobook ideal for a week’s worth of walks or a full day of Non-Exercise Active Thermogenesis (NEAT energy). Because the narration was on the slower side, 4.5 Sneakers for Quality of Narration; however, this aspect is easily adjusted by changing the speed.

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