Is ‘Women Talking’ Based On A Book? Read It Before You Watch It

Women Talking is now an Oscar nominee, netting two nominations, including Best Picture. Adapted and directed by Sarah Polley, the film is set in an isolated Mennonite community, as eight women have less than two days to decide the fate of all of the colony’s women when they’re faced with an impossible choice: stay and fight against the men who are committing serial sexual assaults, or leave and start a new colony.

The haunting film features an ensemble cast including Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, and Jessie Buckley, with Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand in supporting roles. While the film is still playing exclusively in a limited amount of theaters, it’s likely to hit premium video-on-demand distributors like Amazon’s Prime Video and Vudu soon. The movie is produced by Orion Pictures, which also produced 2022’s Till. Till became available on PVOD 39 days after its initial theatrical release, but no such information has been released about when you’ll be able to watch Women Talking at home.

While you wait, you may wonder: is Women Talking based on a book? We’ve got all the details down below.

IS WOMEN TALKING BASED ON A BOOK?

Long story short: yes, Women Talking is based on a book. Since its publication in 2018, the book has made multiple starred lists and has become a bestseller. The book is formatted as the minutes of the meeting of the women talking, as taken down by a literate ally to the women (Whishaw’s character in the film adaptation).

Miriam Toews, the author of Women Talking, states in a foreword to the novel that a true story inspired the book. Between 2005 and 2009, women in a Bolivian Mennonite colony were being sexually assaulted by men within the community, but for years, they attributed it to ghosts or demons before the perpetrators were charged and imprisoned. The novel is “both a reaction through fiction to these true-life events and an act of female imagination.”

WHERE CAN I BUY WOMEN TALKING?

Women Talking is available to purchase in several formats. If you can’t get enough of that new book smell and like how a paperback feels in your hands, you can get a physical copy from Amazon and Barnes and Noble ($15.30). Demand for the book has increased since the movie’s release, so it’s currently backordered but available to purchase from Bookshop and will ship when it’s back in stock.

If you just can’t wait and want to read the book immediately, it’s also available in ebook format. You can get it from Amazon now for $8.45. E-books purchased from Amazon can be read on the Kindle app or any Kindle e-reader.

We recommend the 6.8″ Kindle Paperwhite ($139.99), which makes reading easy and enjoyable with adjustable brightness and warmth settings and a reported 10 weeks of battery life. 

Finally, if audiobooks are more your speed, Women Talking is also available in that format. Narrated by Matthew Edison, the audio production has a 5-hour and 57 minutes runtime. New Audible members can get the book free as part of the service’s 30-day free trial. If you’re already an Audible subscriber, you can get the book for one credit ($14.99/month) or $15.98 on its own.

An alternative to Amazon is Libro.FM, which also offers a one-month free trial to new members, so you can get Women Talking as your first book for free. Otherwise, credits from Libro cost $14.99/month, or you can purchase the book individually for $18.39.

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.