Ten Women

Ten Women uncovers universal emotions as ten women account their lives aloud to one another during a retreat suggested by their psychiatrist. Regardless of the Chilean setting, I am confident women of all ages and backgrounds will relate to the deep truths revealed by these strong characters. There are many moments of enlightenment carefully woven into stories that largely reflect strife. Some of these glimmering revelations are delightful and others reflect timeless truths and hardships, many in regard to gender roles and finances.I did not highlight as much as I should have, but one sentence I liked is, “If God created a bit of flexibility in the world, it was women who stockpiled it.”My only slight criticism is I felt the voices of the characters were all too similar. I think the book could be stronger if each character spoke her own way so the reader could better differentiate whose story they’re reading, especially if you happen to put the book down for a few days. All of the stories are recited very eloquently and confidently. After about three characters it can be hard to remember who is speaking. This is likely due to the book being translated to English. I also found the stories at the beginning and at the end to be more engaging than those of the middle.Overall, I was very pleased with this read. I stopped at several powerful passages that impressed me with their unique position and precise wording. I would highly recommend it.

We all have inner demons, and we all must find our own path to conquer them. Each path is different and each path is necessary to our own story. What we don’t realize is how often our path crosses the paths of others. How intertwined we all our. And the impact that our own story will have on another. This is a beautifully woven story of pain, sorrow, tragedy, and triumph.

This novel by famed Chilean author Marcela Serrano tells the stories of 10 women - namely a psychologist (Natasha) and 9 of her patients. Natasha has brought them all together for some sort of cathartic exercise, and each is asked to bare her soul. We get the full background story for each woman, and they all have more than their share of trouble - some physically suffering, but all with mental/emotional trauma including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more. Each woman comes from a vastly different background and lifestyle than the others, from a wife whose husband disappeared under political turmoil to a famous journalist who is tired of being recognized, from single mothers to childless women, from young to old, from poor to wealthy, it runs the gamut.These women have little in common other than being desperately unhappy and having difficulty coping with their issues on their own. They've all taken comfort in confiding in Natasha, and she pushes them all towards some sort of healing or at least emotional stability. Their stories aren't particularly fun to read, there is so much misery and unhappiness in page after page. Even joyous occasions are treated with a tinge of sadness in anticipation of the pain that will follow. You definitely come out of this book feeling as if you know at least 9 of these 10 women very well. The details into which they dig in about their past also provides insight to a wide variety of cultures and politics and even careers.While well written, the book dragged for me because it was just so uncomfortable to take in page after page of lives devoid of anything resembling joy. I never really connected with any of the women, though some were more sympathetic than others. I didn't personally care for the lack of a common storyline or thread between the stories other than that they were all visiting their therapist on the same day, or the monolog approach to telling each story.I received this book free as a part of an International Book Week giveaway on Amazon Crossings.

I fail to understand the bases of the less positive reader reviews of Ten Women, citing the ostensibly disjointed and unconnected chapters, the supposed lack of plot and the level of writing.The format - each of the nine female patients and their therapist Natasha describing their lives, backgrounds and relationships - was, in my opinion, unsual and fascinating.The connection between the chapters, i.e. between the women, was both personal and universal - the connection of one human being to another, and to their society and era. Their stories presented a mosaic not only of women in Chilean society, but rather of real human beings in a manner anyone from any culture can easily relate to (even, in my case, a man!). The easily flowing style of writing made me regret that I'm unable to read Ten Women in the original Spanish, which is likely to be even more engrossing than the admirable English translation. The only criticism of the writing I have centers on the fact that despite the economic and social diversity of the ten narrators, much of the language has a nearly identical ring to it.This is Ms. Serrano's first book to be translated into English; I eagerly and hopefully await her next one.

as a woman, it’s easy to identify with each protagonist and appreciate their story and way of telling it. the red line of the plot feels a bit constructed, but nevermind. i enjoyed this book.

It’s a beautifully written book which brings the idea that depression, sadness, sorrow has no measurement and can hit the rich and poor equally!

I loved it as I do all her books. I have read them all !!I will be waiting for more I hope in the near future.

An eye opening account of a variety of women's lives and how they cope with difficult times. A well worth read.

This book is about women & for women. Each of the 10 women have known tragedy in their lives & survived like flawed diamonds, but like diamonds, they are strong, each of them in different ways, just like all women. A totally absorbing read.