Skeletons at the Feast: A Novel
by Chris Bohjalian
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Book Reviews of Skeletons at the Feast: A Novel
Book Review: Powerful and intense
Summary: 5 Stars
Skeletons at the Feast highlights an aspect of WWII that many people may know little about: when the Third Reich finally was losing ground in Germany, Russian forces started to take over the countryside and people began to flee their homes in an attempt to reach Allied Forces (British and American) across the lines of the Third Reich. Chris Bohjalian depicts the horrors and the disregard for humanity and numerous despicable moments in this unforgettable work of historical fiction. Bohjalian makes the story much more powerful by adding memorable details: soldiers raping, humiliating and killing young girls and babies; a girl at a camp who survives due to the boots her boyfriend gave her before the war; trading family jewelry for beets and potatoes, entire wagons of Jewish prisoners being burned alive, discussions about banned German books, listened to the verboten BBC radio, the Hitler Youth, a woman having her period and having a riding crop forced inside her vagina by an SS guard.
Skeletons at the Feast focuses on the Emmerich family, Prussian aristocrats. 18-year-old Anna is the central figure. Her lover, Callum Finella, is a Scottish prisoner of war, who had been brought to work at her family farm. Her mother Mitti and younger brother Theo join the group that embarks on this bitter winter journey. Uri Singer, a German Jew who escaped from Auschwitz, and has taken the identity of a Wehrmacht corporal joins them on the journey. Skeletons at the Feast painstakingly describes the details of their relationships, struggles, feelings, and reaction to the war-torn countryside.
Book Review: `You are never to look back or turn back until we are all together again as a family.'
Summary: 5 Stars
In January 1945, in the waning months of World War II, a small group of people attempt a long and difficult journey. They are attempting to cross the remnants of the Third Reich from the Russian front to reach the British and American lines. Among the group is the Emmerich family: 18 year old Anna Emmerich, the daughter of a Prussian aristocrat, her mother and her brother Theo. Her father and her brother Helmut try to aid their country by resisting the Russians. There is also Callum Finella, a 20 year old prisoner of war who has been working on the family's farm as forced labour, and has become Anna's lover. There is also a 26 year old Wehrmacht corporal they know as Manfred who in reality is a Jewish German (Uri Singer) who has managed to escape a train bound for Auschwitz.
Two of the perspectives that make up this novel are those of the Emmerich family and of Uri Singer. The third perspective is from Cecile Fournier, a French Jew in a labour camp. Cecile's perspective underscores the horrors of the camps and the strength of will that enabled some to survive.
While much of the story is focussed around the Emmerichs, especially Anna, each of the other perspectives adds great depth to the novel. The horror and squalor of war, the unforgiveable atrocities are all part of this story. But ultimately so too is survival and hope for the future.
I read this novel on the recommendation of others. I am glad that I did. This is a beautifully written novel set in a very dark period in our modern history.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Book Review: Terrible beauty
Summary: 5 Stars
Having read all of Chris Bohjalian's previous works, I can venture the opinion that this is his masterpiece. Skeletons at the Feast tells the tale of the Emmerlich family, lower ranked aristocrats living in Poland during WWII. War is hell, to quote Civil War General W.T.Sherman, but - thankfully - most of us will never realize the full truth of that aphorism. Skeletons at the Feast goes a long way toward bringing reality. Most of the soldiers who fought in that conflict, bloody and impossibly cruel, are no longer with us. Spend a few hours reading this book and you will never again treat the subjects of war, genocide, and revenge with casual apathy. The main characters here include German gentry, a British POW, a Jew who escaped a concentration camp, a group of imprisoned, starved Jewish women, German refugees, and the conquering Russian army. What takes place is a saga of horrific cruelty that we all need to experience once in a while, however vicariously.
Skeletons brings to the reader an authentic sample of the horrors of war from the perspective of the noncombatants, who are always the victims no matter the setting. Bohjalian breathes life into his characters and brings his readers as close as is possible to the terrible fallout that results from any war, all wars. Skeletons is a story that needs to be told. It's not all "mission accomplished."
This is not easy reading, but bear with the discomfort, and you'll learn something of vital importance.
Book Review: Unexpected
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been a Chris Bohjalian fan for a long time. My favorite novels of his are MIDWIVES and TRANS-SISTER RADIO. He really has a talent for writing about controversial subjects in a very thoughtful and kind way. He makes the reader think about things in a different way and leaves the reader changed in some way. Because it has been done so many times before, I was surprised to see that Bohjalian chose to write about WWII. Creating characters that are memorable is this author's strength and that is what he does from the very beginning. We follow the Emmerich family during the last 2 months or so of the war. They travel across what is left of Germany. I really came to care about Anna Emmerich and her lover Callum. Reading about the atrocities of the war gave me pause, but it was almost like I was reading the diary of one of my own ancestors, I had to keep reading--I became that involved. The entire family even the youngest brother, Theo begins to realize--after living a very protected life that they may not make it, but they never give up hope. As with other novels I have read about WWII recently, the prevailing theme is: Do what is required to survive. I am touched beyond words by each of the characters and also by Bohjalian's writing.Book Review: Intriguing and complex story, with no easy ending or answers.
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the second book I have read by Chris Bohjalian and found it complex and intriguing. The second half of it I could not put down. I would not have picked it out on my own, it was a book group selection. In the group of eight woman, one woman could not finish it because it was too disturbing. It was a book you have to read slowly. The first part of the book, took longer to read because of the going forward and backward in time and the seemingly alternating unrelated stories of different characters. I have read several other similar time and place fiction and this is different. There were so many snippets of conversation and dialogue that showed you how things were they way there were. It was raw, it was depressing, it was scary, it was about hope and luck and circumstances. It is a book that stays with you long after you are done reading it.
We mostly used the book groups questions in the back of the book and added our own in when we hit a venerable spot. Even if you don't read the book group questions, read the authors interview about how the title was chosen and about the journal the book was based on. I will now of read more of Chris's books.