![]() Even when the war ends, invading Russian forces pose another danger and Rosa has to do what she can to survive.īut will escape deliver her peace after all the damage caused by years of terror and guilt?Īt The Wolf’s Table speaks to us about love, hunger, survival, of a fascinating slice of little known history, of not always being strong or always making the right decisions in dangerous times. With the war going from bad to worse, Rosa knows she’s on the wrong side of history and that she could be accused of collusion. Lonely Rosa who lives under the watchful eye of her in-laws is in trouble when a vindictive SS officer put in charge of the tasters, takes a liking to her. Some friendships do develop, however, and some secrets are shared, while youth’s hunger for love goes on unabated, and physical attraction and lust looms. ![]() As they sit there, forced to eat the meals that may kill them, the group divides into the ‘Fanatics,’ who support Hitler and the rest. She’s a ‘Berliner,’ an outsider who dresses smartly, meaning she thinks she’s a cut above them. While you’d think being in the same dangerous boat they’d be united, the opposite is true. Raised by a father who refused to make the Nazi salute, she is not by their measure ‘a good German.’Īs the story develops, so do the dynamics between the women. None of the women meet Hitler or can enter his headquarters, but his presence looms large, in conversations, thoughts, in his rants on radio and the hearts of the true believers. The chef in At The Wolf’s Table reveals some fascinating trivia about Hitler, his vegetarianism, even his digestive tract and personal habits. Every minute that ticks away as they sit there, waiting to see if they’ve been poisoned, seems like an eternity. After each meal the women must wait an hour to see if they will die.Īlthough food is a luxury and all the women are starving, eating the decadent feasts prepared for Hitler is a form of torture. Hitler is convinced the British are trying to kill him, perhaps by poisoning his food, and to ensure his safety, Rosa and nine other women have to eat his meals before he does. Rosa is driven to Hitler’s secret headquarters, known as the *Wolf’s Lair. ![]() The 26 year-old has sought refuge with her in-laws in the Prussian countryside where she feels safer, until one morning an SS officer arrives to announce that she’s been conscripted as one of Hitler’s food tasters. ![]() Rosa Sauer’s parents have died and her husband, Gregor, is away fighting on the front lines. Leah Janeczko, New York: Flatiron books, 2019 ISBN 9781250179142.At The Wolf’s Table, the international bestseller based on the shocking true story of the women conscripted to risk their lives as Hitler’s food tasters, is as gripping as a good movie, with a cast of great characters and a story that poses fascinating questions about loyalty, complicity and remorse.įrom the powerful opening scene, where Rosa is served string beans with melted butter and roasted red peppers, ‘plate piled high,’ and she and the other women are commanded to ‘eat!’ you feel as if you’ve pulled up a chair and are sitting at the table alongside them, breathing the same air, eating the same food, sharing their terror. Pulibshed in English as At the Wolf's Table, trans. La stanza di sopra, Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 2007 ISBN 978-8-2.Postorino has also translated and edited works by Marguerite Duras. Her 2018 novel Le assaggiatrici ( At the Wolf's Table) won the 56th Campiello Prize, the Luigi Russo Prize, the Rapallo Prize and the Premio Vigevano Lucio Mastronardi. ![]() In 2007 she released her first novel, La stanza di sopra (The Room Upstairs). Postorino published her first story "In una capsula" (In a Capsule) in 2004 in the anthology Ragazze che dovresti conoscere (Girls you Should Know). Life īorn in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy, in 1978, Postorino was raised in San Lorenzo al Mare, Liguria, northern Italy. In 2013 she won the International Prize Città di Penne and in 2018 she won the Rapallo Carige Prize and the Premio Campiello. Rosella Postorino (Reggio Calabria, 1978) is an Italian author. ![]()
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