INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FEATURING AN EXCLUSIVE NEW CHAPTERGoodReads Choice Awards Semifinalist “Moving . . . a plot that surprises and devastates.”—New York Times Book Review“A masterful epic.”—People magazine“Mesmerizing . . . The Women in the Castle stands tall among the literature that reveals new truths about one of history’s most tragic eras.”—USA TodayThree women, haunted by … magazine
“Mesmerizing . . . The Women in the Castle stands tall among the literature that reveals new truths about one of history’s most tragic eras.”—USA Today
Three women, haunted by the past and the secrets they hold
Set 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 more 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.
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A look into the past of three strong women with very different personalities and backgrounts and how they survived the Nazi’s. A true story based on the life of the woman who owns the castle. It was so welp written I couldn’t put it down. I read it in 16 hrs.
I am so impressed by this book and give it my highest recommendation. It is expertly written – beautiful lyrical prose that delves deep into the psyche of the many characters. It is a story that gives up its secrets slowly and keeps you turning the pages for answers, even as you worry the answers may be ones you cannot bear to know.
When I think about the Holocaust, about the cold facts of it I learned in school, my mind always goes to questions of “how?” How could Hitler have risen so easily to power? How could so many people have gone along with the mass murder, or have simply looked the other way? How could any of the survivors have continued on to lead seemingly average lives after the crimes they witnessed, endured, committed? Jessica Shattuck answers these questions with an insight that is impressive on so many levels. She writes from many points-of-view in the immediate and long-term aftermath of the war: the child of a German “traitor,” a formerly-devoted wife of a Nazi, a naïve bride of a German resistor, a former soldier haunted by his sins, a member of the resistance who survived only because she was a woman of aristocracy. In each, the author shines a light on humanity – on its many flaws and its many talents.
Shattuck shows how easy it can be to feign ignorance, buckle to fear or turn a blind eye. She shows how simple it can seem to condemn others, pass judgment on their choices and claim the high moral ground, despite one’s own “blindness” and faults. This is a story about a heartbreaking time in human history, and the author took me through the roller coaster of emotions that rightfully go along with it – confusion, disgust, grief, anger, sorrow. In the end, though, I was uplifted by all the great things we are capable of as human beings – resilience, self-reflection, forgiveness, redemption, love. This is a book about the many shades of gray that make up our daily lives. It will remain on my shelf to be shared and reread.
I loved seeing this historical era through the eyes of three very different characters. Thier views are all very real and prove that history is not only about an event, but also every individual’s perspective and the impact it had on each life.
I was lucky enough to win this book from Goodreads so glad I did. This is a story about 3 women in Germany and their lives before, during and after the Nazi’s changed everyone’s lives. Each women took a different path in life, but all ended up in a castle after the war with their own secrets and scarred past. The ending is wonderful!
The Women in the Castle tells the story of three widowed women in post World War II, Germany. Even though each woman comes from a different level of society their history ties them together. All three are widowed wives of resisters, men who had hoped to assassinate Hitler and stop the war. When their plot failed, these women were left behind; Marianne to carry on in her husbands name to save the wives and families of other resisters, tragically Benita was left in the hands of the conquering army, and Ania and her two boys were left as refugees in a war camp. They come together and live in Marianne’s husband’s castle in Bavaria, each of them moving on in different ways.
Marianne was kind of the leader of this troop of women and children. It was her castle they resided in, so she did have the authority to make commands, but also because she had the strongest personality of the three. Her view of the world was very black and white. What their husbands fought for was good and pretty much everything else was evil. It was interesting to see her character grow and learn that there are many shades of grey in the world that don’t represent evil.
Benita was the widow of Marianne’s closest friend. She was stunningly beautiful and where beauty usually makes your life easier during a war it brings a ton of unwanted attention. Her story was the hardest to read as she endured some absolute horrors following her husbands death. As we viewed Benita mostly through Marianne’s eyes, she seemed so fragile against the strength of character that was Marianne’s backbone.
Ania was a mystery through most of this novel. She was sturdy, strong, and seemed to have a back breaking work ethic. Every time something needed to be done Ania had the strength and knowledge to complete the task. She and Marianne became best friends and partners, I think mostly because she buckled down and got the job done without complaint.
Reading a novel about World War II is so difficult because of all of the atrocities of this particular war. What set this novel apart from others I’ve read was that we see the war through these German women’s eyes. Their feelings about what Hitler and the Nazi’s did and the reaction of the people around them- or lack of reaction in a lot of cases. I think this might be the first novel where I read about the German people’s apathy. That most Germans had buried their head in the sand when it came to Hitler’s propaganda and escalating spewing of hatred towards Jews or embraced his theology. This book came out in the beginning of 2017 and now reading it a year and a half later I was stunned by the comparisons I could make to politics in the US right now. I don’t want to get political in my review, but those similarities are pretty scary.
I listened to the audio book of this novel. It is narrated by Cassandra Campbell who does an excellent job of reading and emoting while speaking in German, Polish, Russian and American accents. She was truly amazing. She read at a pace that fit the mood of the story and delivered each woman’s dialog with the deft skills of one of the best actors. Bravo, Cassandra! If you have 13+ hours to spare, I’d recommend listening to this book! Regardless if you are reading or listening, this book was truly excellent.
You cannot read this inspirational book without seeing aspects of your belief system change with regard to the importance of countries learning from total despair. As Americans we have no clue about “hardship”, only what we romantically fictionalize.
The characters in “The Women of the Castle” are woven together perfectly. The plot lines reveal the intricate perspective from which generations of lives were torn apart. The crucial role of women as leaders of the resistance reaches the highest of levels.
Shattuck has written a masterpiece, and she elevates herself to the top of this genre with Lester, Hannah, Jenoff, Quinn et al.
Such a great book! I’ve been reading a lot of fictional ww2, and I love them!!
Loved that this book covered time after WW2 and where the survivors in Germany had to work to live life again after Hitler.
Another view of WW2 Germany told in beautiful prose. I literally could not put this book down and finished it in a single day.
Very well written, describing the aftermath of WWII effecting 3 very different women whose husbands have been executed for plotting to kill Hitler. But one woman has a dark secret. Couldn’t put it down.
Most WWII books are stories about the people during the war. “The Women in The Castle” is about the people’s lives post-war. It is very cleverly written, reads fast and is very informative while entertaining.
This gave a new perspective of the war and the women who remained behind.
Excellent writing!!
Jessica Shattuck’s World War 2 novel is moving and sorrowful. An important piece of literature that I find not just soberingly truthful, but illuminating as well. I enjoy this author’s writing immensely, as her powerful, perfect wording leaves one sympathetically seeing a terrifying time in history from angles often incredibly difficult to envision. The chills of her story will remain with me indefinitely.
This book is a different (for me anyway) perspective on WWII. The strong female protagonist is remarkable & you really pull for the other characters. A very good read!
This book was wonderful. I could not put it down. As the women struggled for survival I felt like I was there with them.
While this inovel is set during the Holocaust, it goes far beyond a typical Holocaust novel, which tells about the main character’s life then. The Women in the Castle reaches out and pulls in other happenings at the time. The author includes information about specific concentration camps, Nazi medical experiments, old men responsible for taking Jews into the forest and shooting them one by one, forced labor, and many other “happenings” during that time. The reader learns not only the main characters’ stories, but also what was going on elsewhere. The book is a rare “find” when it comes to historical fiction.
I have read a number of books about people on the homefront in Britain during WWII, books about prisoners of war in both the Pacific and European theaters, and stories of other hardships faced in times of war. This one sheds more light on the women of Germany. A good read.
I found this book gave me a wider range of Germans before, during, and after WWII. Some of these collide in this book.
Engrossing historical fiction.