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janetl69 's review for:
The Women in the Castle
by Jessica Shattuck
There are so many things that can be said about this book. It makes you feel passionate, hopeful, hopelessly sad, shocked, a little depressed and for those like me who could never understand how an entire country could be not just gullible but also complicit in the annihilation of a race of people it makes you angry that there were not more people like Marianne and the group of men that planned the assassination attempt on Hitler.
I could not find out if this was based on a particular person/people & their action(s) (aside from the assassination plot, which was real & did happen), so I don't know if there are living people that we should want to be proud of. The character Marianne was a very strong, pragmatic woman who was also a little too utilitarian and while she was friendly, it always felt like an 'on-the-surface' friendly and not 'I want to know you from the inside out' friendly. She was "put in charge" of the widows of the plot and took that position seriously.
The character Benita just always seemed super naive (even later in the 50s) and superficial. She reminded me of a lamb that was easy to be led around. She believed what she was told, did what she was told, but never really seemed to think for herself, until the end and even then, she still acted selfishly.
The character Ania was a total conundrum. When we meet her, she's very quiet & closed off, but she also has a fortitude to her and the smarts to send everyone to the cellar & sit with Marianne in the kitchen the first night the Russians show up. It shows that she know what can happen & is trying to protect everyone else. Once we find out her story, it does make me look at her differently (not really in a good way), but at least we see that while it took her WAY too long to start thinking for herself, once she did, she took action even if it was just to get out.
The children that were born & raised during this time actually turn out (for the most part) better than I expected, but like all children raised in a post WWII world, are still a little messed up. I only gave this 4 stars because when we get to the end there are things that are left undone and unknown (I want to know them!). I know that not every book will not be wrapped up with a bow at the end, but it felt like we got to a stop sign and just stopped. I would still like to know if any of these characters were based on real people, so if anyone knows, let me know.
I could not find out if this was based on a particular person/people & their action(s) (aside from the assassination plot, which was real & did happen), so I don't know if there are living people that we should want to be proud of. The character Marianne was a very strong, pragmatic woman who was also a little too utilitarian and while she was friendly, it always felt like an 'on-the-surface' friendly and not 'I want to know you from the inside out' friendly. She was "put in charge" of the widows of the plot and took that position seriously.
The character Benita just always seemed super naive (even later in the 50s) and superficial. She reminded me of a lamb that was easy to be led around. She believed what she was told, did what she was told, but never really seemed to think for herself, until the end and even then, she still acted selfishly.
The character Ania was a total conundrum. When we meet her, she's very quiet & closed off, but she also has a fortitude to her and the smarts to send everyone to the cellar & sit with Marianne in the kitchen the first night the Russians show up. It shows that she know what can happen & is trying to protect everyone else. Once we find out her story, it does make me look at her differently (not really in a good way), but at least we see that while it took her WAY too long to start thinking for herself, once she did, she took action even if it was just to get out.
The children that were born & raised during this time actually turn out (for the most part) better than I expected, but like all children raised in a post WWII world, are still a little messed up. I only gave this 4 stars because when we get to the end there are things that are left undone and unknown (I want to know them!). I know that not every book will not be wrapped up with a bow at the end, but it felt like we got to a stop sign and just stopped. I would still like to know if any of these characters were based on real people, so if anyone knows, let me know.