A Horrific True Story of Rape in a Religious Colony Becomes Thought-Provoking Fiction

It was a historic — and horrifying — case of gaslighting. One hundred thirty Mennonite women and children were drugged and raped in their Bolivian colony over a period of four years, starting in 2005. Their abusers, men in their own community, told the victims, 3 to 60 years old, that their attacks had been perpetrated by ghosts.

Miriam Toews fictionalizes this ugly chapter of history in her latest novel, Women Talking.

It was a historic — and horrifying — case of gaslighting. One hundred thirty Mennonite women and children were drugged and raped in their Bolivian colony over a period of four years, starting in 2005. Their abusers, men in their own community, told the victims, 3 to 60 years old, that their attacks had been perpetrated by ghosts. Miriam Toews fictionalizes this ugly chapter of history in her latest novel, Women Talking.