Review: At the Wolf's Table

At the Wolf's Table by Rosella Postorino
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Intense, historical fiction about young women in WW2 Germany who are called to serve Hitler directly as his personal food-tasters to ensure that he was not given poisoned food. The women were called from the local area and expected to do it for Germany. The trade-off benefit for them was to be well fed throughout the war while most were starving. The risk was dying from poisoning or other violence. Most of the women were either wives, sisters, relatives or friends to a young man who was serving in Hitler's military so their service was expected. The author did a good job at capturing the fear that would have permeated the initial situation facing the tasters who did not know each other, being sent into the dining room to eat their meals and fearing that the meal before them would be their last. Then, the transition that naturally happens as people start to become comfortable with each other and let their guard down, making light of what is intrinsically a grave situation. There are many difficult and tragic relationships throughout this book that do well to capture the atmosphere of the time well.
This was a captivating story for history buffs.
#AttheWolfsTable #RosellaPostorino

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