Readers' rating:
Publishes in USA
Jan 29, 2019
288 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
The internationally bestselling novel based on the untold true story of the women conscripted to be Hitler's food tasters.
"They called it the Wolfsschanze, the Wolf's Lair. 'Wolf' was his nickname. As hapless as Little Red Riding Hood, I had ended up in his belly. A legion of hunters was out looking for him, and to get him in their grips they would gladly slay me as well."
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.
"As engaging as a great film." - Vanity Fair (Italy)
"Unsettling and compelling…Stays with you, and for a long time." - La Repubblica (Italy)
"Masterful…A unique story in which every reader will see themselves reflected." - L'Unione Sarda (Italy)
"You'll fly into this novel with your heart in your throat and a constant feeling of identification all the way through to the final, magnificent chapter." - Io Donna (Italy)
"Compelling and truly well written." - Huffington Post (Italy)
"This book--which speaks of love, hunger, survival and remorse--will end up engraved on your heart." - Marie Claire (Italy)
"A necessary book of great power that brings to mind Primo Levi's The Drowned and the Saved and the finest Italian fiction." - La Riviera (Italy)
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Photo: Marco Rapaccini / Officine Fotografiche
Rosella Postorino is an internationally bestselling author and an editor. She speaks fluent English, Italian, French, and German. At the Wolf's Table is her first novel to be translated into English. It is translated by Leah Janeczko.
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