A review by kreinard
The Women of the Castle, by Jessica Shattuck
4.0
4.5 Stars
I was really surprised by this one and the direction it took. It is not common among WWII books to be about Germans and Nazi's and painting them in a compassionate light. I think the author did this well and with great care (which I found out more about in the Author's Note at the end).
I really liked that this book continually made me put myself in the shoes of each of the characters; I was at once a young girl trying to escape her peasant past and dreaming of a better life with a strong man. I was then a self-righteous yet burdened wife of a resister coming to terms with my role in the war. And lastly, I was a young German blinded by the atrocities around me as well as those I was committing.
Jessica Shattuck did a wonderful job of putting me in each of these roles and helping me to understand the characters choices, their lives and the way they live with themselves after the war is over. It was a new and fresh perspective for me and I enjoyed that it stretched me and made me really think about the choices we make and under what circumstances.
I was really surprised by this one and the direction it took. It is not common among WWII books to be about Germans and Nazi's and painting them in a compassionate light. I think the author did this well and with great care (which I found out more about in the Author's Note at the end).
I really liked that this book continually made me put myself in the shoes of each of the characters; I was at once a young girl trying to escape her peasant past and dreaming of a better life with a strong man. I was then a self-righteous yet burdened wife of a resister coming to terms with my role in the war. And lastly, I was a young German blinded by the atrocities around me as well as those I was committing.
Jessica Shattuck did a wonderful job of putting me in each of these roles and helping me to understand the characters choices, their lives and the way they live with themselves after the war is over. It was a new and fresh perspective for me and I enjoyed that it stretched me and made me really think about the choices we make and under what circumstances.