First I want to thank the Publisher of the book Flatiron for providing me with a copy.
The book is a must must read because of one of the most powerful story I have personally ever read. I didn't know what the Wolf meant before reading the book I just read the book because of the best selling author Rosella Pastorino.
She is the icon of writting excellent and powerful books that stay and make you think for more than a while.
The wolf is a nickname for Hitler the book starts with Margot Wölk, the book is also written on the true story based on her.
I could not believe at first that this happened for real I mean yes the story was just as if someone really experienced it but who would survive such as what Margot experienced and she still had faith in living, I wish no person her fate of live but in the end she was a winner and not her keeper.
A story of someone's life being not just controlled but and played with every step she has to deal about all these people who don't care if she lives or dies.
It was so hard not to understand but to think and realise that this was her story, she (Margot) was a real hero in that and this time that deserves to be remembered.
The author describes the story with so much passion and dosen't hesitate to write such a Masterpiece like At The Wolf's Table.
The book is a 5 star read I'm so glad to have read it even though some parts of the story were so hard to read but as I was told from the story of my mom and dad how they experienced their war time was a remarkable story.
I don't want to give too much away from the book because of the unique way that the author describes the story what Margot went through.
This is the sample of the book: Germany, 1943: Twenty-six-year-old Rosa Sauer's parents are gone, and her husband Gregor is far away, fighting on the front lines of WWII. Impoverished and alone, she makes the fateful decision to leave war-torn Berlin to live with her in-laws in the countryside, thinking she'll find refuge there. But one morning, the SS come to tell her she has been conscripted to be one of Hitler's tasters: three times a day, she and nine other women go to his secret headquarters, the Wolf's Lair, to eat his meals before he does. Forced to eat what might kill them, the tasters begin to divide into The Fanatics, those loyal to Hitler, and the women like Rosa who insist they aren't Nazis, even as they risk their lives every day for Hitler's.
As secrets and resentments grow, this unlikely sisterhood reaches its own dramatic climax. What's more, one of Rosa's SS guards has become dangerously familiar, and the war is worsening outside. As the months pass, it becomes increasingly clear that Rosa and everyone she knows are on the wrong side of history Paperback Lo sfondo è quello della seconda guerra mondiale. L'ambientazione quella della Germania Nazista. La produzione letteraria basata su queste coordinate è sconfinata ma la Postorino è riuscita - furbescamente - a darne una nuova chiave di lettura grazie all'adozione di un punto di vista inedito: quello delle assaggiatrici di Hitler, un gruppo di donne assoldate con il compito di mangiare per prime i pasti destinati al Fuhrer e quindi evitargli, in caso di avvelenamento, morte certa. Un sacrificio meno onorevole rispetto alla morte in battaglia ma pur sempre patriottico. Pur partendo da una posizione apparentemente privilegiata (le assaggiatrici hanno accesso a cibi prelibati, ricevono uno stipendio, sicurezza e un trattamento di riguardo), la riflessione rimane comunque la stessa quando si indaga quel periodo storico: quali conseguenze ci sono per chi è stato un connivente? Quando si raggiunge un livello di complicità con un regime accettabile? Quando la colpa è collettiva in qualche modo si stempera ma la vergogna individuale non stinge. Un regime totalitario fa questo: in nome della collettività, isola i cittadini, li rende atomi, estranei gli uni agli altri.
L'intreccio è piuttosto classico, non ha svolte narrative impreviste ma d'altronde non è questo l'elemento di forza del romanzo, bensì la solida costruzione dell'impianto psicologico. Rosella Postorino è davvero dotata di un grande talento nel descrivere i sentimenti ambivalenti dell'animo umano, le sue contraddizioni e i suoi desideri. Sono tanti i momenti dove la scrittura stupisce per vividezza e precisione. Uno spillo sotto l'unghia, basta questa semplice citazione per descrivere la prosa della Postorino. Una retorica misurata che fa intravedere alcuni trucchi autoriali, come l'immancabile (continua qui https://ileniazodiaco.org/2018/03/31/...) Paperback Abbandonato a pag.60 (perché il plagio del discorso di Kundera sulla merda e Dio - vedi L’insostenibile... -mi ha definitivamente irritato).
Che dire?Sciatto, inqualificabile.
Eppur premiato. Bah.
Completo il giudizio, dopo avere letto altre parti del libro :
Questo è un romanzo furbetto e artefatto: sia per la banalizzazione del contenuto, ridotto a feuilleton, sia per la banalità dello stile (del resto contenuto e stile sono l'indivisibile connubio che identifica chi scrive come capace o incapace); procede con prosa piatta e convenzionale e ogni tanto cerca di accalappiare il lettore con qualche pretenzioso amo retorico.
Frasi come Le rughe le disegnavano sul lato esterno degli occhi una minuscola pinna caudale che li faceva somigliare a due pesciolini o I gemelli dormivano su un fianco, la guancia schiacciata contro il braccio, la bocca aperta come una O compressa, deformata, e sulla sua faccia cremosa, il sorriso si allargò come l’impronta di un dito...fino ad arrivare al ridicolo La notte in cui mi avvisò della licenza invece fu come ricevere una porta in faccia sono solo alcuni degli esempi.
La Postorino, poi, ha letteralmente copiato l'argomento dell'incompatibilità della merda e Dio dall'intramontabile capolavoro di Kundera (L'insostenibile leggerezza dell'essere, capitolo sul Kitsch) mettendolo in bocca al marito ingegnere, a cui l'andar soldato sviluppa il bernoccolo del ragionamento filosofico.
Ci sarebbero molti altri esempi di banalità, qualunquismo, cattivo gusto, artificio...ma per non imperversare concludo con questa perla:
[Hitler] aveva trascorso la notte a rosicchiarsi le unghie, giusto per mettere qualcosa sotto i denti... Paperback 2.5 stars, rounded down. Didn't follow through with what was promised.
Let’s talk about the pace of this book first. It was a slow start. It took me 140 pages (all of Part 1 and the beginning of Part 2) to emotionally connect with Rosa. Given that the book is only 275 pages, that’s a significant amount of time spent on building Rosa’s moral struggle without being exposed to it.
I’m not sure how to describe the content of this book. It narrates the victimhood of members within the Third Reich, but never truly exposes the darkness of it. Maybe that’s what’s bothersome - the fear and isolation of being caught in this profound moral dilemma are held at arm’s length. Postorino never fully delves into it. And though her writing is so lyrical and vivid that you can quite literally picture the scene she’s depicting, you can’t attune your emotions to match.
Rosa struggles with her disassociation from humanity. She’s too fearful to stand up for what is right, and then condemns those who do the same. It’s a horrible paradox - that choosing the right thing is basically choosing death. And yet, to continue living is, in fact, a death of its own. Because one must live with the deep consequence of not making the right decision.
Which leads me to the end of the book. I found it a cop-out. It followed the very behavior of Rosa’s cowardice, which was to run away.
Part 3 seemed written as an afterthought or by an entirely different author. It didn’t even have the same rhythm as parts 1 and 2. And it lacked any form of wisdom. In fact, it was petty in nature.
This is hard. This subject is so pivotal within human history that anything stemming from it can’t be taken casually. I think the perspective was fresh (and I remain respectful to Margot Wolk, whom this was loosely based off of), but the thoroughness lacked.
Thank you to Flatiron for the advanced copy. Paperback The Women at Hitler’s Table is U.K. title
This excellent book is based on the true story of Margot Wolk who died in 2014 aged 96, the last of Hitlers poison testers. The central character is Rosa Sauer, the place is Wolfsschanze, the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia where 10 disparate women become test animals or digestive tracts as Hitlers paranoia extends to concern that his food may be poisoned. Rosa, from Berlin is married to Gregor who is at the front and so she goes to live with his parents in E Prussia, her own being dead. There she is rounded up to become a taster. Rosa tells her story from her early life in Berlin where Germans were licking their defeated war wounds and suffering from the revengeful Treaty of Versailles through to hyperinflation and the rise of Hitler and then to the war years and defeat. Rosa makes it clear she is not a Nazi but yet the war makes her collaborative through force but she even becomes the lover of an SS Officer and that is choice. The story is so well told with the writing flowing extremely well. The style is simplistic but it works very well as it matches what Rosa is reporting. Part of the story is told through food and we learn a lot of things I probably rather wouldn’t about Hitlers digestive tract. Some of the women are ardent Hitler supporters, they see him as the messiah and would marry him if they could - the group called them The Fanatics. Ardent and fanatical Nazism is well described and the novel weaves real events and real people into the narrative. For example, Rosa meets Claus von Stauffenberg and his plot to kill Hitler is included.
A few of the girls like Rosa are there because they are forced to be and they go through the motions in order to survive. Some of these women support each other through the hardships. Rosa’s personality is changed by her experiences and when her husband goes missing from the Eastern Front and is presumed dead, she becomes very detached, feels nothing and cares little if she lives or dies. I think that there are many occasions when Rosa buries her head in the sand, preferring not to know the truth of what is going on, she shuts down and never asks questions, preferring ignorance. I found this hard although I know it’s true and I felt a real jolt when she talks of dictatorship and how they had no alternative, which becomes her alibi. She, like many others, sleep walk through these years for a variety of reasons.
There are many things I admired about this book. I found it very easy to read and horribly fascinating. However, I am uncertain about the final part and the jump in time to 1990. Although this section did tie up some loose ends I think the writing in this section is not as effortless as the rest. I do understand Rosa’s motives for survival lie in letting things rest and I’m certain that is how many went on to cope post 1945. Overall, I think this is an excellent book and I’m glad I got the chance to read it.
Many thanks to Harper Collins for the chance to read this book. Paperback
1943. Reclus dans son quartier général en Prusse orientale, terrorisé à l'idée que l'on attente à sa vie, Hitler a fait recruter des goûteuses. Parmi elles, Rosa.
Quand les S.S. lui ordonnent de porter une cuillerée à sa bouche, Rosa s'exécute, la peur au ventre : chaque bouchée est peut-être la dernière. Mais elle doit affronter une autre guerre entre les murs de ce réfectoire : considérée comme « l'étrangère », Rosa, qui vient de Berlin, est en butte à l'hostilité de ses compagnes, dont Elfriede, personnalité aussi charismatique qu'autoritaire.
Pourtant, la réalité est la même pour toutes : consentir à leur rôle, c'est à la fois vouloir survivre et accepter l'idée de mourir. La Goûteuse dHitler
Fear comes to me three times a day, always without knocking. It sits beside me and if I stand up it follows me, by now it’s practically a constant companion.World War II. Death could arrive at any moment, particularly when your city is being targeted by enemy bombers. In a way, a sudden violent end becomes the expectation. One to be avoided if at all possible, of course. Rosa Sauer flees the Allied bombing of Berlin in Autumn 1943. Though married, her husband had joined the army. She goes to stay with her in-laws in the town of East Partsch, in East Prussia. But, in a classic case of out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire, she finds herself in a situation every bit as perilous as the threat she had fled. Soon after her arrival, members of the SS arrive at her in-laws’ house and inform Rosa that she has been selected to serve her country in a most unusual manner. It seems the Fuehrer’s base of operations (Wolfsschanze, aka The Wolf’s Lair, now Parcz, Poland) is only a few miles away, and, among his other psychiatric challenges, he is terrified that his food might be poisoned. (Well, maybe not so crazy about fearing assassination) She will be one of fifteen young women drafted to become Hitler’s food tasters. The upside, of course, is that she will be eating much better than most Germans. The downside is well…you know.
Rosella Postorino - image from Globalist
In the beginning, the story alternates between her experience as a taster and the time immediately leading up to that. We get a look at Rosa’s personal history, and some of the events in Germany. There is a dark tale of 1933 book burnings led by Goebbels that seemed even a bit much for his own followers. It is particularly chilling.
Most of the story is about the interactions among the women forced into this job. (Guess all the men were too scared?) They run a gamut, with a few Hitlerian true believers among the more usual range of humanity represented there, telling dark, racist tales that the eagerly gullible relish as wantonly as fans of InfoWars do today, with about as much basis in reality. There are perils this forced sisterhood face together, including mistreatment by the guards, and being forced to remain in the facility all the time instead of being bussed back and forth between home and work, after a failed assassination attempt on you-know-who. We learn some of the tasters’ secrets, and see their relationships evolve with the impact of shared misery. Rosa becomes friends with one taster who is shielding a particularly large piece of information. When she is generous with a younger taster the others give her a hard time about it, as if generosity were somehow a sign of weakness. Their relationships with the guards get complicated. Are they on the same team? Or are they prisoners? There is considerable sexual tension, as well. During the time when the tasters are still able to live outside the compound, Rosa is befriended by a local Baroness, eager for conversation with an educated, if untitled, woman from Berlin. Attending gatherings at the Baroness’s place comes with complications of its own. And there is the ever-present need to make the most of a bad situation.
Margot Wölk at 95 – image from Der Spiegel
Rosa is a thoughtful Virgil leading us through this particular ring of hell, offering consideration of underlying moral questions.
Why, for some time now, had I found myself in places I didn’t want to be in and acquiesced and didn’t rebel and continued to survive whenever someone was taken from me? The ability to adapt is human beings’ greatest resource, but the more I adapted, the less human I felt.She must cope with the probable loss of her husband, reported MIA. Is he gone? Should she hold out hope or accede to the likelihood of his demise? When push comes to shoot will you find yourself on the flat or pointed end of the bullet? Will you be able to decide for yourself or will you leave it to others to decide for you?
I could have known about the mass graves, about the Jews who lay prone, huddled together, waiting for the shot to the back of the head, could have known about the earth shoveled onto their backs, and the wood ash and calcium hypochlorite so they wouldn’t stink, about the new layer of Jews who would lie down on the corpses and offer the backs of their heads in turn. I could have known about the children picked up by the hair and shot, about the kilometer-long lines of Jews or Russians—They’re Asian, they’re not like us--ready to fall into the graves or climb onto trucks to be gassed with carbon monoxide. I could have learned about it before the end of the war. I could have asked. I but I was afraid and couldn’t speak and didn’t want to know.Pastorino offers up some darkly comical tidbits about the not-so-fearless leader, including reference to his considerable problem with flatulence, (I can only imagine what Mel Brooks would have done with that) being afraid to go to sleep, becoming a vegetarian after visiting a slaughterhouse, keeping his aides up all night regaling them with stories, the late nights rich with Hitler humiliating his staff at length, which sounds uncomfortably familiar. They appeared to enjoy being the focus of his dark attention, like sycophants today. We learn that Eva Braun hated Blondi, the singing German Shepherd that Adolph doted on. And for all you white nationalists out there, you will also learn the proper way to deliver a Nazi salute.
Margot Wölk is the actual person on whom Rosa Sauer was based. Wölk was interviewed on the occasion of her 95th birthday, in 2012. (links in EXTRA STUFF). Postorino happened cross the article in 2014 and thought it ideal subject matter for a novel, throwing together issues of daily mortal terror, sacrifice, adaptation, destiny, love, survival and guilt. Trying to relate to this person, whose life was so different from her own, Postorino gave her characteristics of herself, a particular appreciation for clothes, vanity, chattiness, her hair color and her name.
Margot Wölk in 1931 – image from BZ-Berlin
Another novel about Frau Wölk, by V.S Alexander, The Taster, was published in the USA in 2018, a few weeks after Postorino’s book was published in Italy. Alexander’s book was released later in the UK under the title Her Hidden Life. A weird coincidence, but it seems likely that both were inspired by the same late-life revelations by Frau Wölk.
At the Wolf’s Table, originally published in 2018 in Italy, was a big hit there, winning the Premio Campiello Literary Prize. The translation by Leah Janeczko is smooth. It reads as if written by an English speaker.
My only gripe about the novel is that I found the romantic element less than persuasive. The strength of this novel is in giving us a character we can feel for, trying to survive in a time and place in which one’s continued existence could not be presumed from day to day. She is an intelligent, feeling person, who considers more than just the usual externalities, but offers an awareness of larger, deeper considerations. It also gives us a look at a little-seen aspect of Nazi Germany, a rare item indeed. And finally, it presents perspective (while written by an Italian) from a regular-person German, neither Nazi nor resistor. Postorino has served up a filling and delicious meal of a novel. Bon Appetit.
Review first posted – February 1, 2019
Publication date
-----USA – January 29, 2019
-----Italy – January 11, 2018
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s GR, Twitter, Instagram and FB pages
Items of Interest
-----Polpettas Magazine - In Conversation with Rosella Postorino - by Margherita Visentini - a very worthwhile interview with the author, despite a less than perfect translation from Italian
-----Reading Group Guide
-----Revolvy - a bio of Margot Wölk - with some detail on her pre-taster life
-----Spiegel Online - Hitler’s Food Taster: One Bite Away from Death - by Fabienne Hurst
-----NY Times - What if the Powerful (and Paranoid) Started Using Official Tasters Again? - by Ligaya Mishan
-----Wiki on The Wolf’s Lair
-----Triumph of the Will - Although I had seen clips of this, I had never seen the entire film. Have now. The tasters, among others, are made to sit through it while at the compound. Remarkable film-making. What a waste of talent in promoting such a dark cause. Paperback L’ho letto in parte da solo, e l’ho ascoltato in parte utilizzando l’audiolibro, letto da Valentina Mari. Questo libro ha vinto il premio campiello nel 2018, e ne vedo i motivi. Fa luogo in Germania durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Il narratore Rosa Sauer scappa da Berlino per restare con i suoi suoceri a un villagio molto vincino alla Tana del Lupo, il nascondiglio di Hitler. Rosa è obbligato diventare un assagiatrice per Hilter, controllando il suo cibo per veleno. Nel 1944, mentre l’esercito Russo viene piu e piu vicino, Rosa dovrebbe fare delle scelte dure per soppravivere. Il libro era affascianante, difficile da leggere e deprimente a volte, eppure esplora un’importante storia non mai raccontata. Paperback During WWII there were many people who wanted to put an end to Hitler’s reign of terror, and as the tide began to turn against him in 1943, those tasked with keeping him safe had to come up with every conceivable plan to ensure his continued leadership. With this in mind, every method by which his assassination could be carried out had to be covered. This included ten women who were employed as Hitler’s food tasters, and this novel is loosely based on Margot Wölk who died at the age of 96, shortly after revealing her part in serving Hitler as one of his food tasters.
Three times a day these women were forced to consume meals prepared for the Fuhrer to ensure that the food hadn’t been poisoned - too bad for these women if it had been - each bite could have been their last! One can only imagine the fear that these women endured. On the one hand they were being fed delicious food, when others in their community were starving, but that sustenance could also have been their killer.
The storyline concentrated on food taster 26 year old Rosa, she’s very much a loner, both her parents are dead and her husband Gregor is fighting on the front line, and she’s now living with Gregor’s parents.
Rosa is a deep thinking, emotionally flawed character with whom I sadly failed to connect. I couldn’t resolve myself with some of the decisions she made, and although I realise that these were extremely difficult times and choices were limited, she came across as very cold and distant, and on finishing the book, I felt I knew little more about her than I had at the beginning.
Even though I didn’t engage with the protagonist, I do think the novel was interesting and beautifully written, almost quiet and subdued in its style - the author said what she had to without great fanfare.
*Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for my ARC. I have given an honest unbiased review in exchange * Paperback Thank you to Flatiron Books for mailing me the advance copy of “At The Wolf’s Table” by the international best selling author: *Rosella Postorino*. This book was selling like hot cakes in Italy when it was first released- and soon Postorino was one of five nominees for the literature Campiello Prize.
THIS BOOK WILL BE RELEASED IN STORES IN THE U.S. in January 2019.
Rosella is also an editor. She speaks Italian, French, German, and English. This is her first novel translated into English.
This is a story - that in ‘part’, I was familiar with from having read “The Taster”, by V.S. Alexander last year.
Both books - historical fiction - are haunting - chilling - hard to image yet ‘was’ imaginable from both author’s vivid storytelling.
I learned ‘more’ fascinating information from THIS BOOK than ‘The Taster’.... yet both books are absorbing and well-researched. I’ll soon explain the ‘more’ ......
But first I to comment on Rosella Postorino’s writing....which is so intimate, I can almost image that she’s a painter.
Her descriptions are simplistic ( I mean that in the most complementary way), so clearly visual, I can see and feel everything she writes easily.
Rosella doesn���t waste any time diving into the heart of the story. Perhaps being an ‘editor’ gives her an advantage skill?...I’ve no idea...but her writing was almost invisible. Is that possible? Writers... help me out!!!!! I’m not sure what I’m talking about here — ( a reader...not a writer )....
I just know - her STORY FLOWED EFFORTLESSLY!!!
From the first page to the last....I was ‘in-the-zone’.....the readers ZONE!!! The pure joy of reading an interesting story. Kudos to author Postorino. 📕✏️.
The ‘MORE’: .......that I learned from reading this book:
The inspiration for this story came from the real person named Margot Wölk. Margot died at age 96. She was one of Hitler’s tasters......last SURVIVING taster. In 2014, she told a Berlin TV channel about her experiences - THE FIRST TIME EVER - sharing those devastating years. Later that same year - at age 96 - she died.
Rosella Postorino’s story begins in Germany 1943.
Rosa Saucer was 26 years old. Her parents were gone and her husband, Gregor, was fighting on the front lines of WWII. Rosa was living in the country with her in-laws. She was a German - but had never been a Nazis.
Rosa was one of ten women employed to taste Fuhrer’s food to ensure it had not been poisoned, against her will. “EAT UP —-eat it all. Wait an hour - live or die”.
There were constant rumors that the British were out to poison Hitler. The women had plenty of food - ( veggies with either rice or noodles- as Hitler was a vegetarian), but each bite from the women was mixed with fear.
They were victims and privileged. They ate to stay alive. They were supporting keeping alive the man everyone wanted dead.
Fear - guilt - shame -catatonic - unbearable grief - horror - rape - loss - hunger - secrets - remorse - survival - forgiveness - love .......are some of many reasons why Rosa couldn’t tell even her husband Gregor - when the war ended - that she worked for Hitler ...
she couldn’t confessed to her husband that she had trusted and loved a Nazi Lieutenant.
“ The past doesn’t go away, but there’s no need to dredge it up, you can try to let it rest, hold your peace. The one thing I’ve learned from life is survival”.
...Written with tenderness and compassion.
...The characters were so real.
...Fascinating and repugnant.
...Margot Woelk’s tells her story: Photos of her - before she died at age 96 - can be found by googling her name.
Paperback Rosella Postorino writes an impressively researched blend of historical fact and fiction in this translated novel, already an Italian bestseller. It is inspired by the late in life interview and revelations of Margot Wolk of her unusual wartime role as a food taster for Hitler. In 1943, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany were unlikely to win the war, Hitler was feeling increasingly hemmed in and paranoid with his growing number of enemies, living in his hidden, secure and well guarded headquarters at Wolfschanze (Wolf's Lair). With her parents dead, 26 year old Rosa Sauer escapes the Allied bombardment of Berlin, to her husband, Gregor's parents more rural abode, where she stands out like a sore thumb as a urban dweller. However, safety is the last thing she gets when she is recruited by the SS to be part of a group of women who are to taste all Hitler's meals to ensure he does not get poisoned, whilst under the gaze of the well armed soldiers.
There is an inherent contradiction in Rosa's role, on the one hand she eats well in comparison to other Germans facing starvation, but on the other hand, there is the fear of living under constant threat, of playing a version of Russian roulette, where each meal may be her last one. She is not a member of the Nazi party, but she is playing the role of collaborator in ensuring that Hitler continues to live. She faces a number of moral dilemmas, but has chosen to do whatever it takes to survive, selecting to remain blind and ignorant to what has been happening under Nazi rule and the horrors perpetrated by them. Insights are provided into the group of women tasters, the simmering conflicts, strains and tensions between the regime loyalists and those who are more critical, the abuse the women face and the relationships that are formed between them.
This is a story of guilt, shame, love, fear and secrets, of what life was like for many ordinary Germans, the difficulties of speaking out, the moral ambiguities of being at war, and the repercussions of WW2 on those who survived. Rosa can be a hard woman to empathise with, her emotional coldness and distance, and her decisions and behaviour hard to understand. This is a dark, disturbing and unsettling read, an uncomfortable rendering of how human beings can behave when living under the pressures of war, where the unacceptable becomes all too normal, under a murderous, heavily controlling, Nazi regime. This is a beautifully written novel, but an uneven read which paints a intensely chilling picture of WW2 and its fallout. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC. Paperback
