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The following is part of the 16 Days HIV/AIDS Book Club. Please feel free to join in the discussion about this book and please refer to our 16 Days of Activism on Gender Violence Toolkit for more information and tips on how to get active.

Miriam’s Song: A Memoir by Mark Mathabane

From the South Africa-born Mathabane (Kaffir Boy, 1986; African Women, 1994, etc.) comes this unsparingly graphic account of his sister's growing up in the last days of apartheid—when violence turned black townships into killing fields and schooling ceased as young comrades insisted on liberation before education. The story told by Miriam, now studying in the US, is a searing indictment of the violence to women engendered both by apartheid and by traditional African attitudes.

• How does Miriam's mother change through the course of the story?
• What are the links between education and violence?
• Did the protests and riots disproportionately affect the women in the story? Why or why not?
• Miriam was surrounded by women in many different circumstances and situations. How did they influence her? What lessons did she learn from them?
• How was Miriam different from her peers and siblings? Do you think these differences played a role in Miriam's ultimate attempt to break the cycle of violence with her son?
• How do the circumstances in which the Mathabane children grew up affect each of them?

The following is part of the 16 Days HIV/AIDS Book Club. Please feel free to join in the discussion about this book and please refer to our 16 Days of Activism on Gender Violence Toolkit for more information and tips on how to get active.

The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle takes an unflinching look at the life of Paula Spencer as she struggles to regain her dignity after marriage to an abusive husband and a worsening drinking problem. Capturing both her vulnerability and her strength, Doyle gives Paula a voice that is real and unforgettable.

• How does Paula’s background affect her relationship with Charlo?
• What role (if any) does religion play in her decision to stay with him? How might this play out in communities affected by HIV/AIDS?
• Charlo raped Paula frequently—why couldn’t she stop him?
• Charlo slept with other women—did Paula feel she had any power to challenge him?
• Paula describes feeling empty, hopeless. How does Charlo’s abuse affect her self-esteem? How does it affect her belief in the options available to her? How might self-esteem impact risk of acquiring HIV?
• Paula believed that she needed Charlo. How true was that? What might she have needed him for? What else could she do?
• Paula lied for Charlo and about the abuse. Why? Do you think this is common in abusive relationships? How might keeping such a secret affect the couple’s HIV risk or compromise their ability to get HIV services?
• What role did isolation play in the abuse? In the relationship?
• Could Paula have talked to anyone about the abuse? What do you think they might have said or done? Would people have believed her? Would people think that this was common/acceptable or be outraged?
  

The following is part of the 16 Days HIV/AIDS Book Club. Please feel free to join in the discussion about this book and please refer to our 16 Days of Activism on Gender Violence Toolkit for more information and tips on how to get active.

Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve

Everyone believes that Maureen and Harrold English, two successful New York City journalists, have a happy, stable marriage. It's the early '70s and no one discusses or even suspects domestic abuse. But after Maureen suffers another brutal beating, she flees with her infant daughter to a coastal town in Maine. The weeks pass slowly, and just as Maureen settles into her new life and new identity, Harrold reappears, bringing the story to a violent, unforgettable climax. A labyrinth of a tale with an ingenious structure, Strange Fits of Passion is also a powerful portrait of truth and deception.

Discussion Questions:

• Why is Maureen attracted to Harrold? Is he a mentor to her?
• Why does she marry him? Why does she stay with him for so long?
• How does drinking affect their relationship? How might alcohol impact risk of HIV?
• Why doesn’t she tell anyone about the abuse? How might this silence be similar to HIV-positive people telling no one about their HIV status?
• When she leaves the first time, why doesn’t she go to her mother?
• What makes her finally leave him?
• How did Maureen become so isolated with Harrold?
• The couple is upper-middle class? How does this affect their relationship? Her options?
• What role does Maureen’s self-esteem play in their relationship? How is her self-esteem affected by her abusive relationship? How does this affect her choices and her sense of options? How might self-esteem influence someone’s risk of contracting HIV?
• The first time Harrold raped Maureen, how did she feel? Did she feel she had a choice?
• Did Maureen’s fear of Harold affect her ability to negotiate with him? Do you think she could make him wear a condom?
• How does Harrold’s relationship with his father affect his actions?
• How does the emotional abuse affect Maureen? Do you think emotional abuse increases risk of contracting HIV?