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40x40

MrsR (11 KP) rated Broken Child in Books

Aug 16, 2018  
Broken Child
Broken Child
Marcia Cameron | 1995 | Biography
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Based on a true stort
Contains spoilers, click to show
This powerful tale takes readers on a harrowing, unforgettable journey into the nightmare of parental abuse and the darkness of mental illness. Written by a woman who endured horrendous abuse from her mother and became a split personality by the age of five, here is the story of her agonizing childhood, the conflicting personalties, and struggle back to sanity.

Marcia was a toddler when she first recalls the abuse. Her mother a devoted Hitler youth , who moved to America. Didnt love her daughter because she was half Jewish and looked so. This book is not for the weak of heart. You will be moved and emotional at how a mother can do this and the struggle Marcia faced to get to "normal" life.
  
40x40

Emily Mortimer recommended Hons and Rebels in Books (curated)

 
Hons and Rebels
Hons and Rebels
Jessica Mitford | 1999 | Biography, History & Politics
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Jessica Mitford was part of the legendary English aristocratic Mitford family. Her sisters included the novelist Nancy, Diana, who was imprisoned with her husband Sir Oswald Mosley for being a fascist, Unity, who fell in love with Hitler, and Deborah, who became the Duchess of Devonshire. Jessica was the family communist and eloped with Esmond Romilly, Churchill's nephew, to go and fight in the Spanish Civil War. Some of the best bits of the book are her descriptions of her childhood. Their poor mother, desperate to knock some sense into her unruly girls, would make them sit down each week and write out how they would economize for a family on an income of 200 pounds a year. Every week without fail Nancy would write at the top of her paper, “199 pounds : flowers.”"

Source
  
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ClareR (5674 KP) rated The Women at Hitler’s Table in Books

Dec 3, 2019  
The Women at Hitler’s Table
The Women at Hitler’s Table
Rosella Postorino | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Even though The Women at Hitler’s Table doesn’t feature an appearance by Hitler himself, it is very much about Hitler’s Germany and how his paranoia directly affected the women who were forced into becoming his food tasters. 1943 saw a shift in the Second World War, the Allies and Russia began to take the upper hand, and Hitler saw assassination plots around every corner (he wasn’t far wrong, but it was generally instigated by his own side).

Rosa Sauer moves from Berlin to live with her husbands parents in the countryside, to escape the bombs that killed her parents. However, in doing so she draws attention to herself and ends up being ‘enlisted’ by the SS as one of the female food tasters at the Wolfschanze (Wolfs Lair). In some ways this is a privileged position - food is scarce and people are starving. Rosa and her fellow food tasters are guaranteed regular food, but each meal could be their last. They have no choice but to eat: SS guards watch their every mouthful. Some of the women are Hitler loyalists and see it as an honour to do this, whilst others (Rosa included) aren’t as keen. Rosa is beginning to see the cracks in the regime, and in fact has disagreed with the party’s politics for a long time. But she has chosen not to do or say anything - as many people did.

This book looks at what life was like for the ordinary Germans. Their loves, loyalties, secrets and the fear for both their present circumstances and their futures. This isn’t a comfortable read. It looks at some very unsettling subjects, and the fear of the women is palpable. I think the story would have stood up well without the romance element, but I’m sure some would disagree with me and would enjoy that aspect more.

I really liked the links with real historical figures: Claus Von Stauffenberg, some local nobility and a real food taster that the story was based on (Margot Wölk). I also liked the style in which this was written. It was dark, subdued, much like how I imagine the country felt as a whole at this point. I really did enjoy this book - it was an interesting and new angle to look at a period in history which we all feel that we know a lot about. Just when you thought you’d seen it all, Hitler’s female food tasters make their appearance....

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for my copy of this book to read and review.
  
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated The Man in the High Castle in Books

Sep 15, 2017  
The Man in the High Castle
The Man in the High Castle
Philip K. Dick, Eric Brown | 1962 | Fiction & Poetry
9
7.5 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
Classic dystopian novel about the US and if the Germans had won the war
Philip K. Dick is the godfather of Science Fiction, especially creating alternative realities and dystopian futures. In this case, he puts the point what would the world look like if Hitler had won the Second World War?

In this version, citizens of Jewish origin begin to be hunted down alongside those with ethnic minorities, except for the Japanese, given their support during the war. Amid this turmoil, is a mysterious and controversial book floating around, that explains what America would look like if they had won.

This is a bit of mind trip as a result, and it does end rather abruptly. However, the writing is gripping and you're desperate to find out how the man in the high castle connects to the story.