The Women in the Castle

Posted on 06 January 2018 by Jessica Shattuck

Three women, haunted by the past and the secrets they holdSet at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Hazards of Good Breeding.Amid the ashes of Nazi Germany s defeat, Marianne von Lingenfels returns to the once grand castle of her husband s ancestors, an imposing stone fortress now fallen into ruin following years of war The widow of a resister murdered in the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Marianne plans to uphold the promise she made to her husband s brave conspirators to find and protect their wives, her fellow resistance widows.First Marianne rescues six year old Martin, the son of her dearest childhood friend, from a Nazi reeducation home Together, they make their way across the smoldering wreckage of their homeland to Berlin, where Martin s mother, the beautiful and naive Benita, has fallen into the hands of occupying Red Army soldiers Then she locates Ania, another resister s wife, and her two boys, now refugees languishing in one of the many camps that house the millions displaced by the war.As Marianne assembles this makeshift family from the ruins of her husband s resistance movement, she is certain their shared pain and circumstances will hold them together But she quickly discovers that the black and white, highly principled world of her privileged past has become infinitely complicated, filled with secrets and dark passions that threaten to tear them apart Eventually, all three women must come to terms with the choices that have defined their lives before, during, and after the war each with their own unique share of challenges.Written with the devastating emotional power of The Nightingale, Sarah s Key, and The Light Between Oceans, Jessica Shattuck s evocative and utterly enthralling novel offers a fresh perspective on one of the most tumultuous periods in history Combining piercing social insight and vivid historical atmosphere, The Women in the Castle is a dramatic yet nuanced portrait of war and its repercussions that explores what it means to survive, love, and, ultimately, to forgive in the wake of unimaginable hardship. Free Download [ The Women in the Castle ] author [ Jessica Shattuck ] – kino-fada.fr Suddenly she saw everything in its harsh, naked state She felt the pulse of the lives lived inside the mean little house she passed selfish or generous, kind or unkind, ugly or tolerable, almost all of them sad And she saw the histories of the people passing by like x rays stamped on their faces ugly, mutinous tracings of dark and light a woman who had ratted out a neighbor, a man who had shot children, a soldier who had held his dying friend in his arms Yet here they were, carrying groce Suddenly she saw everything in its harsh, naked state She f...The storytelling grabs you IMMEDIATELY I LOVE IT This tour de force of historical imagination is set primarily in Germany before during and after WWII focusing on the lives of three women and their children You ll meet Marianne, The Commander of the wives and Children Marianne was married to Albreht Von Lingenfels, from a long line of revered German Generals, who wanted to help bring Hitler to the court of law with the support of the outside world Connie Fledermann, from an old once r The storytelling grabs you IMMEDIATELY I LOVE IT This tour de force of historical imagination is set primarily in Germany before during and after WWII focusing on the lives of three women and their children You ll meet Marianne, The Commander of the wives and Children Marianne was married to Albreht Von Lingenfels, from a long line of revered German Generals, who wanted to help bring Hitler to the court of law with the support of the outside world Connie Fledermann, from an old once rich junker family, was another character you ll meet early in this story My image of this great man never ever left me Still hasn t I credit, author Jessica Shattuck for this powerful memory achievement With very few words she kept a character alive for me who dies early through the rest of her storytelling Connie and Albreht had spent a few years working together assisting victims of the national Socialists Jews who wanted to emigrate, imprisoned Communists, artists whose work were banned Both...For all the horror of the official reports she and Albrecht had seen, with their language of extermination and elimination, they could not come close to conjuring this How could they There was no point of reference Later, such footage would come to be so familiar it became unseen a kind of placeholder for human evil The first black and white glimpse of barbed wire, dirt, and nakedness cautioned viewers, look away But in this moment, in the first unveiling, it was nothing she or anyone e For all the horror of the official reports she and Albrecht had seen, with their language of extermination and elimination, they could not come close to conjuring this How could they There was no point of reference Later, such footage would come to be so familiar it became unseen a kind of placeholder for human evil The first black and white glimpse of barbed wire, dirt, and nakedness cautioned viewers, look away But in this moment, in the first unveiling, it was nothing she or anyone else had ever seen And it was impossible to look away She looked and trembled in her seat.I ve always heard it discussed on just how could the German people all condone what was going on in their country under Hitler s reign This book takes you there And sadly I m pr...3.75 ish stars rounded upThe Women in the Castle is a riveting novel that hits home with the notion that sometimes it s our shared experiences no matter how horrific rather than our strongly held beliefs or common views of the world, that can bind us together and leave a lasting impression Jessica Shattuck takes a different approach with her WWII story, opting to relay the devastation through the eyes of three distinct German women Women that stumble and make mistakes along the way, like w3.75 ish stars rounded upThe Women in the Castle is a riveting novel that hits home with the notion that sometimes it s our shared experiences no matter how horrific rather than our strongly held beliefs or common views of the world, that can bind us together and leave a lasting impression Jessica Shattuck takes a different approach with her WWII story, opting to relay the devastation through the eyes of three distinct German women Women that stumble and make mistakes along the way, like we all do, but ultimately strive to find some semblance of a life among the scattered ruins of their bleak existence and the memories of the awful things they witnessed throughout the war not to mention, the things they were forced to sacrifice Flat and borderline...At the end of World War II Marianne von Lingenfels tracks down her childhood friend, Connie Flederman s son Martin and his wife Benita Marianne had made Connie a promise to take care of his family if anything happened to him Her husband Albrecht and Connie, as well as various others, had been a part of a plot to try and assassinate Hitler that fell through leading to their execution Marianne feels responsible after promising her support to Albercht as his wife to take care of the other widows At the end of World War II Marianne von Lingenfels tracks down her childhood friend, Connie Flederman s son Martin and his wife Benita Marianne had made Connie a promise to take care of his family if anything happened to him Her husband Albrecht and Connie, as well as various others, had been a part of a plot to try and assassinate Hitler that fell through leading to their execution Marianne feels responsible after promising her support to Albercht as his wife to take care of the other widows She draws up a list of names to see if anyone else shows up from it, which eventually leads to Ania and her two sons coming to join her as well The three women stay at the castle which belonged to Albercht s family The deal with the relocation effort as troops move through Germany and the eventual reconstruction of the country I know a lot of other people enjoyed the book a lot but I just found kind of boring The writing was really...I started reading this a couple of days after Holocaust Remembrance Day and on that day I thought about how it should be rememberedthan on just one day each year This is why I really believe that reading books about WWII and the Holocaust is so important This book certainly made me remember the horrors of what happened during WWII , but this was from a perspective that we are not used to reading from The war and what happened to so many looms in the background but is always there The I started reading this a couple of days after Holocaust Remembrance Day and on that day I thought about how it should be rememberedthan on just one day each year This is why I really believe that reading books about WWII and the Holocaust is so important This book certainly made me remember the horrors of what happened during WWII , but this was from a perspective that we are not used to reading from The war and what happened to so many looms in the background but is alwa...NOW AVAILABLE The Women in the Castle begins with the Prologue at Burg Lingenfels, site of a Bavarian Castle The year is 1938, setting a picture of the pre war days, the Countess s famous harvest party is being assembled, organized, and hosting this party is Marianne von Lingelfels, niece in law of the Countess, accompanied by her husband, Albrecht, her once upon a time professor Hosting the party was like setting up a civilization on the moon But this was part of what kept people comin NOW AVAILABLE The Women in the Castle begins with the Prologue at Burg Lingenfels, site of a Bavarian Castle The year is 1938, setting a picture of the pre war days, the Countess s famous harvest party is being assembled, organized, and hosting this party is Marianne von Lingelfels, niece in law of the Countess, accompanied by her husband, Albrecht, her once upon a time professor Hosting the party was like setting up a civilization on the moon But this was part of what kept people coming back despite yearly disasters minor fires and collapsed outhouses, fancy touring cars stuck in the mud, mice in the overnight guest beds The party had become famous for its anarchic, un German atmosphere It was known as an outpost of liberal, bohemian culture in the heart of the...Captivated initially by the premise and cover but disappointed in the historical detail delivered This book just wasn t what I was hoping for Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society This is the story of Three women haunted by the past and the secrets they...I found this to be a dramatic and an uniquely told story that gave me a new understanding and a different perspective on this time period of World War II that I have never experienced before while reading a Historical Fiction novel.THE WOMEN IN THE CASTLE by JESSICA SHATTUCK is an intriguing, powerful, difficult, and thought provoking read about the struggles and relationships of three widowed women Their lives and fates become intertwined by a vow that our main character, Marianne made to her I found this to be a dramatic and an uniquely told story that gave me a new understanding and a different perspective on this time period of World War II that I have never experienced before while reading a Historical Fiction novel.THE WOMEN IN THE CASTLE by JESSICA SHATTUCK is an intriguing, powerful, difficult, and thought provoking read about the struggles and relationships of three widow...Three women, Marianne, Benita and Ania, from different walks of life, but all have one thing in common They have survived the holocaust, the plot to kill Hitler which took two of their husbands and for Ania, the evil in which she found herself involved It is the immediate aftermath in Bavaria, of this terrible and horrific time, a promise made by Marianne will bring these women and their children together where they now must depend on each other for all their survival.Although this is a novel Three women, Marianne, Benita and Ania, from different walks of life, but all have one thing in common They have survived the holocaust, the plot to kill Hitler which took two of their husbands and for Ania, the evil in which she found herself involved It is the immediate aftermath in Bavaria, of this terrible and horrific time, a promise made by Marianne will bring these women and their children together where they now must depend on each other for all their survival.Although this is a novel...

English
06 January 2018

Jessica Shattuck