Ten Women

Natasha has brought nine women together to meet each other. When the book opens, they are arriving at the institute where Natasha works in a suburb of Santiago. She watches the women arriving and watches the workmen in the garden who are in turn watching the women. We’re introduced initially to the diversity of Natasha’s visitors - young, old, tall, short, well-dressed and apparently privileged and poor country women are all delivered in the minivan that’s brought them to this place.In each chapter one woman tells about her life, how she came to have problems and how she ended up with Natasha. Some of the women are rich and their problems can seem a little superficial. Others are dirt-poor and only able to attend thanks to the generosity of their therapist and the subsidies of their well-to-do ‘sisters’.What makes the book particularly interesting - well to me, at least - is the setting in Chile and the parts that allude to the beauty and fragility of this country about which I know I know too little. I enjoyed the passages about the harshness of life under political dictatorship, and I found a lot to interest me in the diversity of the experiences related. I have a Facebook friend in Chile through whom I know more than I used to about the harsh realities of life in Chile, but this book paints a vivid picture of just how hard a place it is and has long been for women in particular.Some of the women’s problems are problems shared with others - female or male, it probably would make no difference - all over the world, whilst others are uniquely Chilean. I am blessed with not having ever had mental health issues but I can recognise many of the themes as ones common to people I know or of whom I know. As a potpourri of women’s disappointment and despair, it’s an oddly beautiful and poignant collection of stories.If I have one criticism, it’s a small one, and that’s that sometimes there doesn’t seem to be enough change of ‘voice’ between the stories. Ten women’s stories all told as if by one accent, one vocabulary and one pair of eyes. Whether that’s the original writing or the work of the translator, I can’t be sure, but it’s noticeable. And why shouldn’t the poor girls tell their stories in pretty words? Perhaps that’s the gift the author gives themThis is a hard book to read because of the despair it recounts, but also a beautiful one. If you have issues yourself, take care it doesn’t set you thinking too deeply of other people’s troubles.

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

It was easy to listen too, each of the 10 women had interesting stories to tell. However I did not think neither of them had closer and I didn’t quite get how listening to each other help them in the end.

Written from the perspective of 10 women makes it an interesting idea but for me the result was 10 short stories lacking cohesion. I wasn't gripped and found the themes repetitive. What would have been more interesting was a narrative that followed the women through their group sessions to get a feel for how their therapy worked. Writing from the view point of 10 different characters is in any case a real challenge if the reader is to be engaged enough to feel the separate lives being describe and for me it didn't achieve this.

A well written book which tells the story of different women's lives. This is the first book by a Chilean author that I`'ve read & I really enjoyed it.It proves that wherever the location women still want the same things & have the same issues. Fascinating!!

A beautiful book and the best translated text I have ever read - I wondered once or twice if it had been written in English in the first place.

All ten characters have an interesting story; it's very well written and interesting but I personally found the end a bit disappointing as I was expecting a connection between them; a great book nonetheless.