At the Wolf's Table: A Novel

I couldn’t put this book down and yet when I did, I couldn’t forget what I read. I so admire Rosa and I know I could never live the life that she was forced to live. The ending made me sad yet, It’s the only ending that would complete the story well. Without this being a spoiler alert, I was disappointed that she never met up with the lieutenant again.

"At the Wolf's Table" is Italian novelist Rosella Postorino's second novel and the first translated into English. The "Wolf" that Postarino refers to is Adolf Hitler and the "table" is not HIS dining table, but rather the table the women who are his food tasters sit at while at work. "Work" being the tasting of food bound for Hitler and then sitting around for an hour or so, waiting for any poison to make itself known. After an hour, the 10 or so women conscripted for the "poison alert duty" were sent home, to come back for another day of "testing".Who are the women conscripted to taste Hitler's food? They are Germans who live in or near Rastenburg, the small town in east Prussia, where Hitler's "Wolfschanze" headquarters were located. This compound was highly guarded and difficult to get in or out of. The women are picked up by a bus in the town and taken to the compound to eat. One of the women was Rosa Sauer, a mid-20's woman who lived with her in-laws, waiting for her husband, Gregor, to return from the Eastern Front. Their's is a fairly good relationship, with both wife and parents anxious about their loved one's fate. Early in the book, Gregor is reported missing-in-action and Rosa is left with a profound sense of disassociation from both her work and those people around her.Postorino does an excellent job of going into Rosa's mind as she interacts with others during the last year of the war. Rosa's late parents were anti-Nazi, while her in-laws seemed to go along with the political system without much enthusiasm. In fact, many Germans were becoming disillusioned with both the war and the Nazis, though others, particularly Maria, a wealthy friend of Rosas, were still true-believers.Rosella Postorino's best writing concerns Rosa's fellow "food tasters" and those Nazi guards and officials. With 10 women, there are a wide range of personalities and back stories. We learn more about some than others, but all are drawn with care. No one, even the guards and Nazi officials, are caricatures.I couldn't decide whether to give "At the Wolf's Table" four or five stars. The writing is a bit flat, but is that because of Postorino's writing or that of the translator? But then I realised that perhaps flat writing gives the story an edge that it might not have otherwise. Bad things happen in the book and some characters and plot lines are not returned to by the end. Rosa's sense of disassociation remains, but isn't that the truth of much of our lives? The ending of the book is a bit of a shock to the reader, but really shouldn't be. The ending was as it should have been.

AT THE WOLF'S TABLE is about Rosa Sauer and her fellow tasters who work at Hitler's hideout, The Wolf's Lair, sampling breakfast, lunch, and dinner to insure no one poisons Hitler.Hitler never actually appears. This is about the women who have been conscripted from the nearby area. Rosa is from Berlin; her parents have been killed in the bombings and her husband is in the army. She tries to find safety with her in-laws in the countryside. But somebody tells the SS she's there, and that's how she's chosen.The women all have their own personality traits. At first Rosa is an outcast because she dresses fashionably. Elfriede one of the most outspoken gets into an actual fight with Rosa, but they're friendly afterwards. Some of the women are pro Hitler, but most despise him.One day Rosa gets an invitation to attend a soiree held by the baroness at a nearby estate. They sing together, then the baroness asks Rosa to sing, which impresses the SS lieutenant in charge of the tasters who's been invited as well.Rosa gets news that Gregor, her husband, is missing in action. Right about then, the lieutenant starts showing up late in the evening, watching Rosa outside her bedroom window. They become romantically involved.There's some historical scenes such as Von Stauffenberg's attempt on Hitler's life. Von Stauffenberg was at the Baroness's party; she's arrested. Ironic since she thinks Hitler will save Germany.There's a jump cut at the end. The war in over and Rosa is back in Berlin living with her sister. One day she receives a surprise visitor. I think there's enough forshadowing for the reader to predict who that will be. We know Rosa is living working odd jobs but we don't see enough of how bad it actually was, with people looking for their missing loved ones, the horrible economy, the revenge. In Paris women who'd had relationships with German soldiers had their heads shaved, if not worse. Rosella Postorino is an Italian writer; this book is a translation. I think the book is rather timid in spots. What if it was revealed that Rosa had a relationship with an SS lieutenant. How would she be treated? This is what you want to do as a writer; paint yourself into a corner. Postorino doesn't do that, and it hurts her novel.

The book was well written. It held my interest and was factual. Learning about the women food tasters created feelings of care and concern. I struggled with the time changes back and forth. It created a feeling of temporary confusion. When the book suddenly ended I kept turning the pages looking for more. This was a little disappointing for me. I thought, what???

Certainly a topic I had never considered. It was interesting and generally well written. The chapters 'bounced around' with no notice regarding which time period you were entering e.g. the current story, her life as a child or her life with Gregor. There were other disjointed sections. The ending seemed contrived with no real explanation regarding what had happened. Perhaps a different editor is needed.Still a good, thought provoking read.

The premise of this book had me hooked from the start. And the author does not disappoint. The story of these women is told in poetic fashion and weaved together so that you want to know how each of them end up faring in their dire situation. There is a realness to the shadows of humanity that the novel exposes that makes you keep turning the page. Love the emotional arcs and resonance this book leaves. Very happy the authors work was translated to English!

Having read The Nightingale I couldn't resist this book I was unsure the first few chapters then the depth of the story gripped me and I understood the perplexity of the time and revolving characters A well written book with talented narrator

The first thing I want to say is that you need to be in mood to read this book - maybe I just wasn’t. I just could not get a good view of the characters; especially Rosa. I need this so that I feel an investment in the main character/s and it just did not happen for me. However the topic is an interesting one and there is a good overview of this unfortunate group of women who never knew if this wartime bounty would be the last meal they would eat. Better fed and better paid than the average woman there was no choice for them and we follow their lives until the fall of Hitler’s regime. At that point I found myself losing the thread of the story which seemed to jump forward without me working at what happened in between. As I said, it might just be that this was not the right time for me to read this book so please don’t discount it, especially if you have an interest in this period of history.

I urge everyone who is interested in Hitler to read this book

I knew from the outset that this was fiction, but it has a quality that allows you to feel it is real. Well done.

This book starts off interesting and ends in utter boredom. The story could have been interesting if told in a few pages.