Summer Reading: The Women in the Castle

The next selection on my summer reading list, The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, is one that I absolutely could not put down! I loved it! This novel is set in Germany during and after World War II and gives a fascinating perspective on the collective guilt felt by Germans. Three women, all widows of men involved in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler, come together to live in a crumbling Bavarian castle after the war. Marianne von Lingenfels views the events of the war in black and white and holds herself and her children above the former Nazis around her. Beautiful Benita Flederman, who married her wealthy husband to escape her life of poverty in a small town, cares nothing for politics and wants life to return to normal as soon as possible. Ania Grabarek is tormented by the guilt she feels over her complicity in the events of the war and about the secret she is keeping. Over the course of the novel the three women must come to terms with what has happened to each of them, what has happened to their country, and what they have done to each other. The characters are very sympathetic and memorable (I felt very emotionally connected to all three of them for different reasons) and the story is extremely compelling because well-known events are told from a different vantage point than that of most World War II fiction. I found it interesting that the women crave understanding rather than forgiveness and I never felt like Shattuck was in any way condoning the more horrific events of the war. It is one of the most thought-provoking novels I have read in a long time because I have always wondered how Germans could have allowed the rise of Hitler to happen and how they rationalized it to themselves once the full extent of the atrocities were made public. Conversely, I've also wondered what it was that motivated people to risk everything in order to resist when so many did nothing. This gave me some context and I highly recommend it!

Note:  Have you read The Women in the Castle?  What did you think of it?