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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
The Women in the Castle tells the story of three German widows in the aftermath of WWII: Marianne, Benita and Ania. Marianne brings the women and their children together at Berg Lingenfels, her husband's family castle, after the war. Their husbands were all conspirators in a plot to kill Hitler that failed and Marianne was charged with looking after the wives and families of those conspirators. Marianne was part of the social elite of Germany before the war. She is well educated and sophisticated, but also fiercely loyal and a staunch anti-Nazi. Benita was the wife of Marianne's best friend Connie Flederman. Marianne finds Benita is Russian occupied Berlin and her son Martin in a reeducation home for children. She rescues them and brings them home as part of her family. She also finds Ania, who she had never met before, but who is also the widow of a resistor. Ania and her two sons are also relocated to Berg Lingenfels. The three women form a bond of survival and mutual respect as the fight to endure the hardships of post-war Germany.
This story skips around in time. We begin before the war in 1938 when the conspirators are plotting against Hitler. It is there that we are introduced to Marianne and Benita. We then move to 1945 after the war when Marianne brings the families together. We learn more about their fight for survival during the war through flashbacks. We also learn a bit more about the women before the war. Then we move forward to 1950 when Germany is back on its feet and the women have stability and peace once more. This is when their friendship and family unit falls apart, mostly due to Marianne's rigidity. The book ends with a reunion at Berg Lingenfels in 1991 when we get to see what happened to all these characters in the intervening years.
I thought the book was interesting and at times entertaining, but it did not blow me away. I think it was mainly because of the characters. There were parts of the book were I disliked Marianne intensely. Her black and white view of the world destroyed lives and friendships that didn't need to be destroyed. However, this book was well written and I feel like the characters may have been very close representations of how they would have been in real life. It is a compelling tale and a perspective not often given to WWII novels. The audio was excellent. It just wasn't my favorite book.
This story skips around in time. We begin before the war in 1938 when the conspirators are plotting against Hitler. It is there that we are introduced to Marianne and Benita. We then move to 1945 after the war when Marianne brings the families together. We learn more about their fight for survival during the war through flashbacks. We also learn a bit more about the women before the war. Then we move forward to 1950 when Germany is back on its feet and the women have stability and peace once more. This is when their friendship and family unit falls apart, mostly due to Marianne's rigidity. The book ends with a reunion at Berg Lingenfels in 1991 when we get to see what happened to all these characters in the intervening years.
I thought the book was interesting and at times entertaining, but it did not blow me away. I think it was mainly because of the characters. There were parts of the book were I disliked Marianne intensely. Her black and white view of the world destroyed lives and friendships that didn't need to be destroyed. However, this book was well written and I feel like the characters may have been very close representations of how they would have been in real life. It is a compelling tale and a perspective not often given to WWII novels. The audio was excellent. It just wasn't my favorite book.
I selected this book for my book club to read. I picked this book for two reasons. First, I have a friend that recently temporarily relocated to Germany and wanted to learn more about the country. Also, it gave insights into a part of the WWII story that are not usually in most books. Many WWII books focus on the Allies, soldiers trying to survive on the battlefield or get back to their unit, spies trying to get past enemy lines, families trying to avoid capture by the Nazi or trying to survive concentration camps. This book offers a unique perspective of the lives of German citizens and the choices they made during WWII, as well as life in the aftermath of the war.
It's remarkable to me that there's anything more to be written about World War II in the historical novel format. But this checked off a very specific box related to the immediate post-war period.
The women: Marianne, Benita, and Ania are brought together in the immediate aftermath of the war. Marianne is from a wealthy German family of near-nobility, and "the castle" belongs to her through her late husband's family. Because of the castle's situation, the Allies want to use it in the immediate post-war years, and they get to do so because Germany is the defeated nation, and it's in one of the Allied Zones of control. While the women are dealing with the issues they already have related to widowhood, survival, and traumatization, they also find themselves hosting Nazi prisoners who are put to work on their land while the Allies figure out what to do with them.
The novel skips around in time a bit - "back story" of the years leading up to the war; war-time; post-war, & finally some 1990s when some of the women & some of their children are reunited. The way the timeline is done is effective & adds to the suspense.
Marianne, Benita & Ania are all portrayed as flawed women, who all did things they weren't proud of. It's easy to put people in "good or evil" boxes, and I enjoy novels that force me to look at gray areas and morally relative choices.
I've done my share of history classes and read books about World War II in plenty, but I never learned much of anything about the German Resistance. I also never thought deeply about the immediate post-war period or the massive movement of people that happened as civilians tried to flee the bombed out cities, escape the last of the desperate Nazis, or find missing family members; as Germany was divided into American, French and Eastern Zones; as German soldiers were trying to go underground & get back to their families or were released from Russian prisons; as Russian soldiers tried to get back east or were released from German prisons. All of that is really brought to life in this novel.
The women: Marianne, Benita, and Ania are brought together in the immediate aftermath of the war. Marianne is from a wealthy German family of near-nobility, and "the castle" belongs to her through her late husband's family. Because of the castle's situation, the Allies want to use it in the immediate post-war years, and they get to do so because Germany is the defeated nation, and it's in one of the Allied Zones of control. While the women are dealing with the issues they already have related to widowhood, survival, and traumatization, they also find themselves hosting Nazi prisoners who are put to work on their land while the Allies figure out what to do with them.
The novel skips around in time a bit - "back story" of the years leading up to the war; war-time; post-war, & finally some 1990s when some of the women & some of their children are reunited. The way the timeline is done is effective & adds to the suspense.
Marianne, Benita & Ania are all portrayed as flawed women, who all did things they weren't proud of. It's easy to put people in "good or evil" boxes, and I enjoy novels that force me to look at gray areas and morally relative choices.
I've done my share of history classes and read books about World War II in plenty, but I never learned much of anything about the German Resistance. I also never thought deeply about the immediate post-war period or the massive movement of people that happened as civilians tried to flee the bombed out cities, escape the last of the desperate Nazis, or find missing family members; as Germany was divided into American, French and Eastern Zones; as German soldiers were trying to go underground & get back to their families or were released from Russian prisons; as Russian soldiers tried to get back east or were released from German prisons. All of that is really brought to life in this novel.
A thought-provoking look at three German women and their families, during and after WWII. Marianne along with her husband were participants in a scheme to assassinate Hitler. Benita was the wife of another member of the assassination plot, but her temperament was more passive - but the effect of the war on her was extensive and tragic. Ania was an average German woman who gradually became involved in the Nazi way of life by small and seemingly innocent actions; these grew over time into horrors of which she was unable to extricate herself. This look at the war from the German side was enlightening.
This was a hard book to read, not because I couldn't engage with it, but because the perspective is not of the winners of World War 2 but the losers. This is a perspective of after the war ends in Germany. Three women; one who sided with Hitler and was married to a Nazi, one who was married to and played a part in the resistance movement and one who was not a bright lady but beautiful and caught the eye of a handsome resister when she knew no better than that Hitler was right. All these women were broken by the war. They had to live with their guilt of being overly righteous and judgemental of those who did not believe the same as them. The woman who must live with the guilt of being complicit in the Nazi movement when she knew it was wrong. The woman who resisted and tried to save the others but in turn judged them and meddled with their lives, causing severe consequences she could not take back. Lastly, the beautiful one who only wanted to love and be loved but was unable to think beyond that and see that not knowing, not being involved, had its own consequences.
I am shocked that this book did not get more attention. This is a book that is relevant in our world today. Learning to see history, major events from all perspectives of the people who are blamed for atrocities. This is a powerful yet disturbing book that should be read by all.
I am shocked that this book did not get more attention. This is a book that is relevant in our world today. Learning to see history, major events from all perspectives of the people who are blamed for atrocities. This is a powerful yet disturbing book that should be read by all.
This book gave me some insight into the German people who lived through WWII, and their children, and how the choices made during Hitler’s rule lived on for each of them.
I haven't read very much about the German resistance. This story focuses on three different women in three different circumstances; all of which were very interesting. Some of the story was hard to read and think about. That is what a truly good story does is tells what is true and what really happened.
Excellent story concerning immediate time after WWII. Calls into questions not only where our loyalties lie, but why. Thought provoking historical novel that is so relevant for the political climate we live in.