Loved this, I could have just kept reading about Irma forever.

This story was not quite as emotionally involving as I thought it might be. The story is simple enough, but there are gaps in it. The gaps mainly have to do with the characters. This girl has a rough relationship with her father, though he barely talks to her so we don't really get to know why it's so rough, at least not until nearly the end of the novel. She's married, to a man who doesn't really love her. And, who it seems, she doesn't love much either. (My thought of course, is why get married in the first place, and why that young?)

Irma Voth's character is made to be the catalyst for several negative events: the death of her sister, which leads to the estrangement with her father, the abandonment from her husband, the death of another man in her community after she steals her husbands drugs. It's all just a lot, a little too much even, for an 18 year old to go through.

And the fact that they just happened to find all these people so willing to help a couple of runaways, was a little too good to be true. Or maybe I'm just too cynical.

"That to truly know happiness is to know the fleeting nature of everything, joy, pain, safety and happiness itself."
Miriam Toews is fast-becoming a favorite author of mine. In Irma Voth, Toews poses a question worthy of additional pondering on my part: "Do you feel that we can rebel against our oppressors without losing our love, our tolerance, and our ability to forgive?"

3.5.
Love Toews’ style, but really didn’t care for the ending. Irma’s cluelessness bugged me.

As with all of Toews' books, it's well written but tough subject matter: domestic violence and abuse under the guise of religion, sheltered girls interacting with "the real world" and trying to find safety. In this book, the protagonist is not wrestling with her upbringing versus her desire for a normal life (Irma has already started that escape and separation) but with her own demons and inner turmoil. I had to read it in short bursts, especially the second quarter (though there is nothing explicit, the implications are tough to stomach), but then the second half I just devoured.
I love all of Toews' work; this is no exception for me.

I really like Miriam Toews writing style - she has a very unique voice and captures the angst of her teenage characters well. After reading The Flying Troutmans though, I wasn't sure if another book with a very similar sounding plot would be enjoyable - outsider/quirky girl, navigating the complexities of Mennonite community and complicated family situation - however, the setting of this book in Mexico and the strength of Toews story telling ability saved the book from being just more of the same and made it an enjoyable read.

I'd give this book between a 2 and a 3. I've never been the biggest Toews fan, though her books do always make you think.
The subject matter was interesting, but I find her writing style difficult to put up with for long periods of time.

I read this book on the recommendation of a friend who grew up in Manitoba and had been speaking with me about the intergenerational trauma of Mennonite people. I was not well versed in the migrations of the Mennonite and the traumas association with these migrations. I was unaware of Mennonite in Mexico.

This book provided an interesting glimpse into that world. It explored, in mostly unstated ways, aspects of intergenerational trauma. The book is complicated and moving and well worth the read.

This book make me cry today! Maybe it’s the pandemic, or maybe it’s that Miriam Toews knows how to make you feel big emotions with a handful of words. I loved A Complicated Kindness but I think I loved Irma Voth even more.