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A review by cstaude
At the Wolf's Table by Rosella Postorino
5.0
This novel goes down as the best thing I have read thus far in 2019. Ms. Postorino has created such a compelling story in Rosa, one of a small group of ten women forced into servitude as food tasters for Adolph Hitler.
The complexity of Rosa’s relationships with her husband, in-laws, and fellow tasters contrasts starkly with the simplicity of her day-to-day routine. Go to work/taste, survive that meal, return in the late afternoon, and repeat the process. I found myself literally holding my breath every time she took a bite!
The relationships between the women were drawn with a deft hand. These women risked death together each day, but remained “intimately detached” from each other. It is a weird thing but understandable all at the same time.
As WW2 fiction goes, I found this an interesting departure as Rosa was German and anti-Nazi and we are not immersed in Holocaust scenarios in this work. The Final Solution is touched upon, but it is not the central issue and Rosa’s feelings of compassion and love for her Jewish fellow citizens is one that we don’t always get to see in novels.
I highly recommend this novel- and the discussions it will spark would be wonderful reading group material!!
The complexity of Rosa’s relationships with her husband, in-laws, and fellow tasters contrasts starkly with the simplicity of her day-to-day routine. Go to work/taste, survive that meal, return in the late afternoon, and repeat the process. I found myself literally holding my breath every time she took a bite!
The relationships between the women were drawn with a deft hand. These women risked death together each day, but remained “intimately detached” from each other. It is a weird thing but understandable all at the same time.
As WW2 fiction goes, I found this an interesting departure as Rosa was German and anti-Nazi and we are not immersed in Holocaust scenarios in this work. The Final Solution is touched upon, but it is not the central issue and Rosa’s feelings of compassion and love for her Jewish fellow citizens is one that we don’t always get to see in novels.
I highly recommend this novel- and the discussions it will spark would be wonderful reading group material!!