A review by cynsfictionaddiction
The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck
3.0
“The Women in the Castle” tells the story of how three German women were thrown together and survived WWII. Aptly named, these women camped out in a castle previously in main character Marianne’s family. Marianne was a force to be reckoned with from the beginning. In a time where women were kept in the dark about “men’s work,” Marianne was the only wife to know about her husband’s plan to take down Hitler.
Marianne’s husband Albrecht worked with a large group of like-minded men within Germany that formed a resistance beneath Hitler’s rule. When it became clear that Hitler could not be stopped, they set out to assassinate them. Their failed attempt triggered their executions and Marianne’s endeavor to protect the wives of the other resistors in Albrecht’s network. Marianne brings together two other women – Benita and Ania – and their respective children. This makeshift family grew together over the years and were bound together long after the war ended.
An acclaimed author, Jessica Shattuck delved into a narrative that has rarely been discussed. Most novels focus on the allies and those who opposed Hitler, but very few that I’ve read so far go behind enemy lines to talk about life from a German standpoint, particularly for a group of women from various backgrounds.
Of course, “The Women in the Castle” was exceedingly compared to “The Nightingale.” “The Nightingale” is quite possibly my all-time favorite book, but this comparison has increasingly become a pet peeve of mine because it sets up unrealistically high expectations and the only common thread is that they are both novels about women surviving during WWII.
The two books are wholly different and “The Women in the Castle” focuses more on family and friendship than heroic acts of defiance. It’s easy to understand how Marianne and “her women” became a family during the war, but the most interesting part of this novel to me was the years after the war and the friendships that developed. Seeing how each woman changed, evolved, and tried to move on from their pasts was incredibly moving and realistic. The story lagged at times going into an in-depth history lesson, but one that is so important to read and understand because it is so seldom considered.
For this and other reviews: https://thebookbasics.wordpress.com/
Marianne’s husband Albrecht worked with a large group of like-minded men within Germany that formed a resistance beneath Hitler’s rule. When it became clear that Hitler could not be stopped, they set out to assassinate them. Their failed attempt triggered their executions and Marianne’s endeavor to protect the wives of the other resistors in Albrecht’s network. Marianne brings together two other women – Benita and Ania – and their respective children. This makeshift family grew together over the years and were bound together long after the war ended.
An acclaimed author, Jessica Shattuck delved into a narrative that has rarely been discussed. Most novels focus on the allies and those who opposed Hitler, but very few that I’ve read so far go behind enemy lines to talk about life from a German standpoint, particularly for a group of women from various backgrounds.
Of course, “The Women in the Castle” was exceedingly compared to “The Nightingale.” “The Nightingale” is quite possibly my all-time favorite book, but this comparison has increasingly become a pet peeve of mine because it sets up unrealistically high expectations and the only common thread is that they are both novels about women surviving during WWII.
The two books are wholly different and “The Women in the Castle” focuses more on family and friendship than heroic acts of defiance. It’s easy to understand how Marianne and “her women” became a family during the war, but the most interesting part of this novel to me was the years after the war and the friendships that developed. Seeing how each woman changed, evolved, and tried to move on from their pasts was incredibly moving and realistic. The story lagged at times going into an in-depth history lesson, but one that is so important to read and understand because it is so seldom considered.
For this and other reviews: https://thebookbasics.wordpress.com/