Miriam Towes' Women Talking (2018) is a novel about a series of rapes in a remote Mennonite colony in Bolivia. A group of men sprayed a veterinary sedative into women's homes around the colony, rendering them unconscious. After that, they broke into their homes and sexually assaulted the women. These rapes occurred from 2005 to 2009, affecting over 100 women and girls. The town's male elders initially deny that these rapes occurred, but they are eventually forced to admit that they have taken place and take action. Towes' novel centers on a group of eight women who must decide how to deal with the mass rape while all of the colony's men, who have left to post bail for the rapists, are away. In the end, they decide to leave the colony and take everyone, except boys over 15, with them.
In 2022, a film based on Towes' novel was released to universal critical acclaim. Directed by Sarah Polley and starring Frances McDormand and Rooney Mara, the film was nominated for a bevy of Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay (which it won).
The popularity of the film version of Women Talking reflects the popularity of Towes' novel. Writing for NPR, Lily Meyer said that Towes' book is "astonishing" and "profoundly intelligent." Anthony Cummins of The Guardian called the novel "brave and thoughtful" and said it was a "chilling tale of systematic subjugation in a rural religious colony."
