City of Women

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It is 1943 the height of the Second World War and Berlin has essentially become a city of women In this page turning novel, David Gillham explores what happens to ordinary people thrust into extraordinary times, and how the choices they make can be the difference between life and death.It is 1943 the height of the Second World War and Berlin has essentially become a city of women Sigrid Schr der is, for all intents and purposes, the model German soldier s wife She goes to work every day, does as much with her rations as she can, and dutifully cares for her meddling mother in law, all the while ignoring the horrific immoralities of the regime But behind this fa ade is an entirely different Sigrid, a woman who dreams of her former lover, now lost in the chaos of the war Her lover is a Jew But Sigrid is not the only one with secrets A high ranking SS officer and his family move down the hall and Sigrid finds herself pulled into their orbit A young woman doing her duty year is out of excuses before Sigrid can even ask her any questions And then there s the blind man selling pencils on the corner, whose eyes Sigrid can feel following her from behind the darkness of his goggles Soon Sigrid is embroiled in a world she knew nothing about, and as her eyes open to the reality around her, the carefully constructed fortress of solitude she has built over the years begins to collapse She must choose to act on what is right and what is wrong, and what falls somewhere in the shadows between the two In this page turning novel, David Gillham explores what happens to ordinary people thrust into extraordinary times, and how the choices they make can be the difference between life and death. Best Read [ City of Women ] By [ David R. Gillham ] – kino-fada.fr The city is Berlin, 1943, and the woman we care about is Sigrid, whose husband is fighting on the eastern front Sigrid is seduced by two very different men the sex in this book is hot hot hot , but the real seduction inv...4 starsI m struggling because I want to do this book justice but I am not in the mood to write a review I want to get something down though when everything is fairly fresh in my mind, because I loved this book.I read this as a buddy read with my Goodreads friend Diane, and also read it for my real world book club...I m afraid I didn t care for this book all that much, but the setting atmosphere, sense of place time was so well evoked that I can t totally write it off I know people are really in love with this novel, and once again I m swimming against the current of public opinion here because it just didn t do that much for me In my long review I make the point that the author s original intent to write a novel with a completely female cast of characters, because I wanted to explore wartime I m afraid I didn t care for this book all that much, but the setting atmosphere, sense of place time was so well evoked that I can t totally write it off I know people are really in love with this novel, and once again I m swimming against the current of public opinion here because it just didn t do that much for me In my long review I make the point that the author s original intent to write a novel with a completely female cast of characters, because I wanted to explore wartime from a feminine point of view would hav...I absolutely loved this book It was so layered the characters beautiful, flawed, believable the scenes unfolding like a brilliant movie not surprising since the author is an actor and screenwriter I stayed up until 5 a.m reading this book which doesn t happen often but it is the reason why I read I love books like this Sigrid is a great heroine, I rooted for her Ericha, not so much Sigrid s lover, Egon, I just kept picturing an awesome Michael Fassbender ruthless, magnetic and ende I absolutely loved this book It was so layered the characters beautiful, flawed, believable the scenes unfolding like a brilliant movie not surprising since the author is an actor and screenwriter I stayed up until 5 a.m reading this book which doesn t happen often but it is the reason why I read I love books like this Sigrid is a great heroine, I rooted for her Ericha, not so much Sigrid s lover, Egon, I just kept picturing an awesome Michael Fassbender ruthless, magnetic and endearing all in one This book, although a historical fiction, is definitely sexy I can t think of any other word The twists in this book were well conceived They don t just come out of nowhere after finishing this book, I immediately started reading it again I needed to go back and look at the details, especially about Egon s family great tactic in withholding information both from the reader s point of...This book is perfect for those readers who want an intelligent thought provoking book filled with action, form the first page to the last It is filled with twists and turns and dead ends What you think you understand, well you probably don t You will by the end If you love the ride of such an adventure I highly recommend this book.The central theme, other than simply figuring out what was going on, is what role would YOU have played if you were a German during WW2 Would YOU have the guts t This book is perfect for those readers who want an intelligent thought provoking book filled with action, form t...This is another book where I seem to have the opposite opinion of pretty much everyone, and maybe I m crazy for hating this book, but hate it I do.Okay, first a disclaimer I in no way believe that a male author can not write brilliant female characters, or vice versa That said, in the case of this specific book, I don t think the male author can write a realistic female character The whole time I was reading it I was reminded that the author was male, and the primary female characters read li This is another book where I seem to have the opposite opinion of pretty much everyone, and maybe I m crazy for hating this book, but hate it I do.Okay, first a disclaimer I in no way believe that a male author can not write brilliant female characters, or vice versa That said, in the case of this specific book, I don t think the male author can write a realistic female character The whole time I was reading it I was reminded that the author was male, and the primary female characters read like manifestation s of the author s sexual fantasies, with none of the nuances of character to make them interesting or three dimensional There is the gorgeous, voluptuous main ...This is the third book in a row I ve read about Berlin in the late 1930s early 1940s before this Kino and before that All That I Am A Novel With every one, details accumulate to make this erapersonal,human, somehow realer to me This book has some good, sharp dialogue, especially between Sigrid and Ericha and when Sigrid meets Brigitte and Carin The plot is enthralling although it ties up too quickly in the end Maybe that s just because I wantof the story and the charact This is the third book in a row I ve read about Berlin in the late 1930s early 1940s before this Kino and before that All That I Am A Novel With every one, details accumulate to make this erapersonal,human, somehow realer to me This book has some good, sharp dialogue, especially between Sigrid and Ericha and when Sigrid meets Brigitte and Carin The plot is enthralling although it ties up too quickly in the end Maybe that s just because I wantof the story and the characters There s melodrama but there sJust Drama that makes reading it worthwhile I read it quickly and I liked it a lot Berlin is a character I wish I knew it better so I could see better the streets that are named and the areas where the action takes place.I learned that in bomb shelters crying was forbidden and signs were...Een oorlogsroman met diepgangeen verhaal dat in je hoofd blijft hangen het zet aan tot nadenkenwat ook de bedoeling van de schrijver is De keuze tussen goed en kwaad , wat is goed en wat is kwaad Hoe hebben de inwoners van Berlijn tijdens WOll gereageerd op de misdaden die het regime uit hun naam heeft begaan Mensen die zeggen dat ze simpelweg proberen hun kinderen te eten te geven, een dak boven hun hoofd te houden en uit de problemen te blijven Sigrid staat voor die keuze. Een oorlogsroman met diepgangeen verhaal dat in je hoofd blijft hangen het zet aan tot nadenkenwat ook de bedoeling van de schrijver is De keuze tussen goed en kwaad , wat is goed en wat is kwaad Hoe hebben de inwoners van Berlijn tijdens WOll gereageerd op de misdaden die het regime uit hun naam heeft begaan Mensen die zeggen dat ze simpelweg proberen hun kinderen te eten te geven, een dak boven hun hoofd te houden en uit de problemen te blijven Sigrid staat voor die keuzeen maakt de keuze om U Boote te helpen Voor haar ook een vlucht uit haar alledaagse, troosteloze bestaan Iedere dag is hetzelfde, haar werk , haar geze...3.5 stars I m a sucker for historical fiction, especially about WWll This did not disappoint.There is no black or white in war, but the variations of gray are infinite With the protection of history and hindsight, we can sit at our remove and imagine how our moral compass would guide us through treacherous situations, but fiction well crafted fiction can offer three dimensional dilemma and nuance that our egos would deny.David Gillham s City of Women is just such a work and it is an excellent Berlin in 1943 is a city of shadows Nearly all able bodied men are fighting across vario There is no black or white in war, but the variations of gray are infinite With the protection of history and hindsight, we can sit at our remove and imagine how our moral compass would guide us through treacherous situations, but fiction well crafted fiction can offer three dimensional dilemma and nuance that our egos would deny.David Gillham s City of Women is just such a work and it is an excellent Berlin in 1943 is a city of shadows Nearly all able bodied men are fighting across various fronts left behind are...

City of Women
  • English
  • 04 May 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 392 pages
  • 039915776X
  • David R. Gillham
  • City of Women