Skeletons at the Feast

What makes people do the things they do? I'd recommend pairing this book with "The Reader". Both books struggle to find plausible rationales for the Holocaust in WWII and the implications for average people. Bohjalian captures the despair of the average German as the state began to crumble and they have to face the oncoming Russian army from the easter front, or the arrival of the...more

What makes people do the things they do? I'd recommend pairing this book with "The Reader". Both books struggle to find plausible rationales for the Holocaust in WWII and the implications for average people. Bohjalian captures the despair of the average German as the state began to crumble and they have to face the oncoming Russian army from the easter front, or the arrival of the Americans to the west. Recommend.   hide

Interesting read about a German (Prussian)family fleeing from the Soviets during the final days of Hitler's Germany. Very gory but difficult to put down. The love story was unnecessary, in my opinion.

This book blew me away! I was obsessed for two days, and can hardly get it out of my head. The story of a family of Germans during the last year of World War II, fleeing their ancestral home in Prussia ahead of the depredations of the advancing Red Army. Accompanying them is a Scottish POW and an escaped Jew posing as a Wermacht officer. Tender and suspenseful. Beautiful and brutal. The most...more

This book blew me away! I was obsessed for two days, and can hardly get it out of my head. The story of a family of Germans during the last year of World War II, fleeing their ancestral home in Prussia ahead of the depredations of the advancing Red Army. Accompanying them is a Scottish POW and an escaped Jew posing as a Wermacht officer. Tender and suspenseful. Beautiful and brutal. The most intimate and horrifying portrayal of the Jewish experience under the Nazis that I have read. I really can't recommend this book highly enough.   hide

This is a really hard book to read. It is worth it, but the story of refugees during WWII is tough to go through.

Good book, but a little too gory for me.

so far so good!

A great read--it's been a while since I stayed up until midnight just to finish a book. Love it!

Liked the story but it seemed to take forever to read

this book is alsolutely amazing. It has been one of my favorite reads of the year. I was just completely drawn to all the characters. Bohjalian did an amazing job at carving out the different personalities, motivations, fears, etc. I also enjoyed the book because of the original point of view.