This is as slow burn of a drama as you would expect based on that description. Over the course of the book, the women wander from straight forward arguments about their options to topics such as whether or not they are animals (and therefore whether animal behavior provides a useful guide to what it's reasonable for them to do when threatened), if forgiveness for such terrible crimes can be required from them, or if it's even possible for any but God to offer it, and if they can forgive, whether it means they must stay or can only be achieved through distance. They ponder what if anything their religion now means to them, and for the first time discuss it as something they could interpret for themselves. It might make a fantastic play, except that I'm not sure how well August's narration could translate to the stage. He was born in the colony, but his parents were something of a pair of rebels, and left. He was permitted to return as an adult even after refusing to renounce his parents because they needed a teacher. He's an odd duck, an expression that he'd probably appreciate because he's quite fond of ducks. Since the women can't read the minutes, anyway, he embellishes them with reminiscences from his childhood and his unconfessed love for one of the women, Ona. The result is low action but high drama.
Overall: A