Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

We have migrated to a new forum for book club discussions, please join us for our latest discussions on the BookBrowse Community Forum.


Not Logged in.
Forum Name Book Club Home
Discussion Name 2018 Book Club Discussions
Topic Name The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck
Book Jacket

The Women in the Castle


A nuanced portrait of war, and of three women haunted by the past and the ...
Summary and Reviews
Excerpt
Reading Guide
Author Biography

Discuss The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

Discussion

Replies

Last Post

Did anything surprise you about conditions in post-war Germany? Did you learn anything new from the novel?

14

Mar. 21, 2018
by paulagb

How did Benita's beauty both help and hurt her? How did reading Connie's final letter influence the tragic choice she makes? Why do you think Benita felt that love, for her generation, was dead?

4

Mar. 20, 2018
by gretchenm

If Ania had been more honest about her past and Benita been more open about her love for Herr Muller, how do you think Marianne would have reacted?

9

Mar. 20, 2018
by gretchenm

What do you think of Marianne's determination that the children be aware of the worst of their country's actions? 

11

Mar. 19, 2018
by Silly Lotus

Do you find The Women in the Castle holds insight for our own time?

14

Mar. 17, 2018
by lynne z

Did you identify more with one women than the others? Which did you have the most sympathy for? Which the least?

16

Mar. 17, 2018
by lynne z

Do you think the three women would have been friends if not for the war?

21

Mar. 16, 2018
by barbarae

Do you think Ania was like most ordinary Germans of the period? Do you think she was right, later in life, to be ashamed for her actions during the war? How do you think you would have reacted in her place?

10

Mar. 11, 2018
by kdowney25

According to Martin, "Americans can face the world with open arms, Marianne had once said, because the world hasn't yet come to knock it down." Do you think this is true? Do you think it's ever been true in America's history?

11

Mar. 05, 2018
by kimk

What drew Benita to Connie? Do you think she loved him? What were her true feelings for Herr Muller? Should Herr Muller have defied Marianne and married Benita?

13

Mar. 05, 2018
by kimk

Ania thinks to herself that people have children "even when they believe the world is going to hell, even when life is nothing but uncertainty" in hopes of someday being understood. Do you agree?

5

Mar. 04, 2018
by A.T.

How did each woman's past influence how they reacted to the rise of Nazi Germany?

3

Mar. 04, 2018
by A.T.

How do you think the novel challenges our perceptions and notions of Germans during and after the war?

17

Mar. 04, 2018
by A.T.

Do you think Marianne upheld her duty to be "the Commander of Wives and Children"? She was certain she always did the right thing. Did she? Was she a good protector and friend to Benita and Ania?

8

Feb. 27, 2018
by jillw

Do you think it's possible to put our past behind us and create a new beginning for ourselves? Are there dangers in remembering the past, or in clinging to it? Are there dangers in forgetting the past? 

8

Feb. 24, 2018
by tracyl

How do you think the events of the war and its aftermath shaped each of the women and their perceptions of themselves?

2

Feb. 22, 2018
by paml

Are women like Marianne, Benita, and Ania victims, or do they bear responsibility for Hitler's rise to power? How accountable are individuals for their leaders? Why do you think Marianne saw Hitler for what he was when others did not?

7

Feb. 19, 2018
by leopolds

At the end of the war, each woman was in a different place, physically and emotionally. What do you think of the choices they were forced to make to survive?

2

Feb. 19, 2018
by leopolds

Sorry, The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck is closed for new posts.
Please go to bookbrowse.com/onlinebookclub for a full list of conversations.