The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck has several parts and it covers several years, before, during, and after World War II.
Marianne is the main character. She is a woman who's husband is a resister of Hitler's, and when he and a few other resisters fail in their mission, Marianne is tasked with finding other lost wives and children of other resisters.
This novel followed three women, Marianne, Ania, and Benita. Marianne is stubborn in her ways, but she also wants to see everyone succeed. She is a stubborn and strong character, everything is black or white. Ania is a woman with a secret, and she is unwilling to tell anyone because it might affect her safety and the safety of her two sons. She is a strong woman, and is willing to help Marianna as much as she can, however, it might only be because she doesn't want anyone to find out the truth she is keeping hidden. Benita is a young woman, who depends too much on her looks and smarts to get and keep men. She doesn't really know how to protect herself, even though later in the book we find that in certain instances she isn't the weak little girl she often appears to be.
I, overall, liked this book. I thought it was interesting and a deep read. Being about the different sides of Germany and the reaction people had to Hitler was thought provoking. Of course this is a fiction book, so you can take from it what you wish.
My complaints are small. I wanted more women in the castle. I wanted to see a wider variety of women who had survived as well as they could have. I wanted to see more from people who had different experiences. I also wanted to see a little more development in some of the characters, or at least hear more about their experiences. We don't get too into depth with Marianne, and I feel that her character should have had more change and development. There were some horrifying parts, but I feel like some of it could have been explored more. Most of us know what happened in WWII, and this could have gone a little deeper into the experiences (even as fiction) of the women, and other people they had met.
My other minor complaint was the children seemed inconsequential. There was a part in the beginning when you thought Marianne's daughters would have more to do with the story than they did. I wanted to hear more from them, and more from Ania's sons. I feel that there could have been more written from the different point of views of the children.
This was not a bad book. I did enjoy it. I thought it was a little too long, and at times a little too slow, so it could have been edited down a little bit. That being said, I do recommend this book. It was pretty good and mostly kept my interest.
Marianne is the main character. She is a woman who's husband is a resister of Hitler's, and when he and a few other resisters fail in their mission, Marianne is tasked with finding other lost wives and children of other resisters.
This novel followed three women, Marianne, Ania, and Benita. Marianne is stubborn in her ways, but she also wants to see everyone succeed. She is a stubborn and strong character, everything is black or white. Ania is a woman with a secret, and she is unwilling to tell anyone because it might affect her safety and the safety of her two sons. She is a strong woman, and is willing to help Marianna as much as she can, however, it might only be because she doesn't want anyone to find out the truth she is keeping hidden. Benita is a young woman, who depends too much on her looks and smarts to get and keep men. She doesn't really know how to protect herself, even though later in the book we find that in certain instances she isn't the weak little girl she often appears to be.
I, overall, liked this book. I thought it was interesting and a deep read. Being about the different sides of Germany and the reaction people had to Hitler was thought provoking. Of course this is a fiction book, so you can take from it what you wish.
My complaints are small. I wanted more women in the castle. I wanted to see a wider variety of women who had survived as well as they could have. I wanted to see more from people who had different experiences. I also wanted to see a little more development in some of the characters, or at least hear more about their experiences. We don't get too into depth with Marianne, and I feel that her character should have had more change and development. There were some horrifying parts, but I feel like some of it could have been explored more. Most of us know what happened in WWII, and this could have gone a little deeper into the experiences (even as fiction) of the women, and other people they had met.
My other minor complaint was the children seemed inconsequential. There was a part in the beginning when you thought Marianne's daughters would have more to do with the story than they did. I wanted to hear more from them, and more from Ania's sons. I feel that there could have been more written from the different point of views of the children.
This was not a bad book. I did enjoy it. I thought it was a little too long, and at times a little too slow, so it could have been edited down a little bit. That being said, I do recommend this book. It was pretty good and mostly kept my interest.
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