Irma Voth

Irma Voth is nineteen, married, and already abandoned. Raised in a remote Mennonite colony in northern Mexico, she lives under the thumb of a domineering father and the crushing weight of silence, obedience, and isolation. But everything begins to shift when a bohemian film crew descends on her cloistered world to shoot a movie about the very community she’s trying to survive in. Drawn to their freedom and noise, Irma secretly takes a job on set—an act of quiet rebellion that ignites a chain of consequences she can’t control. As tensions at home escalate, Irma is forced to flee, her younger sister in tow, on a journey that’s both dangerous and liberating. With only fragments of language, art, and fragile hope to guide them, Irma must find her own voice—and the courage to use it.

Miriam Toews delivers a powerful, darkly funny, and deeply moving story about breaking away from the worlds that try to silence us—and discovering the uncertain beauty of life beyond their borders.