THE WOMEN IN THE CASTLE
by Jessica Shattuck
I feel like I should share a brief content warning that both of my book reviews this month are war narratives. Although I read both books before the conflict in Ukraine assumed global importance, If reading about war doesn’t feel good to you right now, maybe skip these books.
Despite it being a potentially difficult moment to read it, The Women in the Castle is an absolutely phenomenal book. From start to finish I was gripped by the plot and the characters. Shattuck tells a moving story with many twists and surprises. Although I would not describe her writing as poetic or elevated, it never got in the way of my enjoyment either.
Set in several German cities before, during and after World War II, The Women in the Castle begins as the story of a war widow whose husband was executed for his part in an assasination attempt against Hitler. Her husband and her best friend, another co-conspirator, have tasked her with finding and caring for as many of the widows of their plot as she can. As she finds and rescues each woman, the story grows outward to include their experiences.
Although many of the wartime and post-war details are gruesome, I found myself so invested in each woman’s life that it felt right to read each disturbing detail. Shattuck does a wonderful job keeping key discoveries for the end while presenting different perspectives to answer the question so often asked of the Germans, “How could you have let this happen?” As I think many of us have begun to realize with the conflicts in our world today, the answer is “little by little.” (Lily)
