The Women in the Castle

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While so much of the film portrayals of World War II focus on the men's side of the war, I love how much of the recent fiction features the women who were left at home. I am amazed by both the diversity in their experiences and yet also how much unites these strong women who battled incredible vulnerabilities. Readers who loved "The Nightingale" will like "The Women in the Castle". While the two stories are not the same, the complicated desires and instinct for survival resonate in both.

I am so impressed by Shattuck's ability to capture distinct voices and tell a new story about an era that has been written about so many times. Really well done-

Happy reading--

ps. There was a castle I visited in Germany years ago that played in my mind the whole time through this book. It was a tour that happened to be in German, so I only had my imagination to carry me through what the potential history might have been. As I went through this book, I loved picturing that ancient building and the three main characters holed up together inside.