The story of Rosa who is forced into becoming a food taster for Hitler not knowing whether the next meal will be her last.

An interesting read that tells the tale of an area of WWII that is little known about.

An interesting and unusual tale about WWII telling the story of Rosa, a woman conscripted to work as one of Hitler's food tasters. I have never heard of these women before and I was intrigued by how their lives may have been. I think Rosella Postorino has created an engrossing read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A really interesting read coming from an aspect which I’d never thought of, having read many novels based round WWII. Well written and good characters.

Rosa leaves Berlin after her mother is killed in a bombing raid. Her father is already dead, her brother has gone to America and her husband is fighting on the Eastern Front. She ends up living with her parents in law, and becomes a food tester for Hitler's meals. Will they contain poison. A beautiful book , and although the ending felt disappointing perhaps the reality kept to the nature and balance of the story.

This novel was inspired by the true events that were the life of Margot Wolk. It is set in East Prussia in 1943, Hitler is in hiding in an army base hidden in the woods as war begins to turn. Rosa is 26yrs old and has already lost both her father and mother and her husband is off fighting in the German war. Rosa lived in Berlin but in a sustained bombing attack her apartment block was damaged and her mother killed, so she leaves Berlin to go and stay with her husband’s parents, who live in East Partsch. Not long after her arrival she is summoned to the army base and along with a number of other Village women, she becomes Hitler’s food taster. All these women are paid to eat the food being prepared for Hitler to ensure that he is not poisoned.
This was an engaging read, there was so little mention of the evils of the war that at times you were lulled into feeling that all the atrocities were not happening as the people in East Prussia went about their lives seemingly oblivious. However, just as you begin to forget,so a situation occurs and once again the war rears it’s ugly head. Rosa is not really a likable character, I felt her selfishness and desire to ignore what was happening around her, despite having the opportunities to make a difference, reprehensible. However, this did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying this novel.

Bringing light to a little known fact of WW2, this book is a fictional story about the real women who were Hitler’s food tasters. Employed to taste everything he ate and to ensure he wouldn’t be poisoned, they were German women whose lives really were on the line. The writing immerses you into the situation as if you were there in the room with the women. They were conscripted by the SS and treated not as workers but as conscripts. As a keen reader if WW2 fiction, I have never read anything about this little known situation and this book was fascinating. I was particularly impressed by the ending, where the author describes the impact this war work had on the life of the main character Rosa. A fascinating read, highly recommended!

An amazing book about Hitlers food tasters something of which I new nothing about.
Women thrust into a situation that they had no control over over having to eat food on a daily basis which could poison and kill them.
A diverse group of women who supported each other in the most horrific of times.
A book that engrossed you from the very first page.

I wanted to love this book. The idea intrigued me, learning a new angle about the war, something I had never considered. However I found the story hard to follow in places, the time line jumped forwards and back and wasn’t always clear in doing so.

The voice of Rosa was strong and I liked her character but felt I did not understand her, I needed to know more about her before the war to understand her motivations.

The book was good in terms of learning about the hardships of war, and not the obvious ones, being pulled into service for Hitler, paid good money but having your life at risk on a daily basis. It makes you consider how rules or morals change in war. It makes you think of how much is left unknown....Rosa never learnt what happened to Elfriede or to Ziegler! People came into her life and left.

I wanted to know more about what happened when she returned to Berlin. How did she get off the train, how did she find somewhere to live and work and how did Gregor find her? These parts seem unclear to me.

Am interesting and unsettling book.

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.

The novel is the intimate story of a woman’s life in war time Nazi Germany. A young Berlin woman is bombed out of house and home and bereft of parents marries a young man and goes to live with her in laws when the husband goes to fight in the Eastern front. The in laws live far from Berlin in the country side and while looking forward to see him on home leave at Christmas they hear that he is lost in action. Meanwhile the young wife is rounded up with a few other women to work as food tasters to safe guard Hitler from being poisoned. How the women bond together to cope with being harshly supervised by SS soldiers with the fear at any day of being poisoned, what happens and how she survives the war is the story.

This is a really interesting and emotionally challenging book which leaves the reader unsure who they're rooting for. I personally found the third section disappointing and jarring but the rest of the book was brilliant.

An outstanding insight into the story of Adolf’s Hitler food tasters, a group of 10 women that had to eat the food prepared to make sure the food was not poisoned. The story we read is from the perspective of Rosa, her life, how she struggled with the situation and how she banded together with the other tasters.
What a heart-breaking story, in some many ways. So powerful, it’s hard to believe that it’s based on true accounts. What an awful position to be in, although not in comparison to other historical books based from WW2.
Such an interesting insight, excellently told – not overly full of emotion, yet enough to have a vested interest in the characters.

Thanks for the advanced copy. The true story of one of Hitler's food tasters!! A group of women who were used to taste his food before he did to ensure it hadn't been poisoned!! I thoroughly enjoyed it in so far as there were some very interesting and fascinating facts. I would highly recommend it.

The Women at Hitler's Table reads like a memoir but is a remarkable fictionalized account of ordinary German women who were conscripted as food tasters in the dying days of World War Two. Beautifully researched, it is an emotion packed story told through the eyes of a young German housewife, the fleeting friendships she makes as the women taste food destined for Hitler.

The Women at Hitler’s Table by Rosella Postorino
This is the story of Rosa Sauer who takes on the role of food taster for Hitler. He has become increasingly worried about attempts on his life and so Rosa is employed to taste all his food to ensure he remains alive. There are a number of women recruited into this role and there are tensions between them. Each day they play a game of Russian roulette not knowing whether the meal they are tasting has been poisoned and will be the last they ever eat. Rosa is in a difficult position. She has to turn a blind eye to the horrors which Hitler is perpetrating but she does anything she can to remain alive.
This story s very well researched and is based on the life of Margot Wolk, a woman who carried out this role for Hitler during the war. Many thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This is am amazing historical story set in German6 during the Second World War.Rosa moves from Berlin to the country to live with her husbands family whilst he is away fighting on the Russian front. Rosa is summoned to Wolfs Lair to act as a food taster for Hitler.
Writing in the first person allows the reader to feel Rosas isolation and her need for acceptance.
An unusual book and well worth reading.

The Women At Hitler’s Table by Rosella Postorino is a comprehensive and compelling historical novel that will educate whilst telling a tale. Here, fact meets fiction as the reader learns about a group of women who taste tested food cooked for Hitler to make sure it was not poisoned.
The reader sees the war from the Wolf’s Lair from 1943 onwards. The action is viewed from a German point of view but not a Nazi. Not all Germans were Nazis.
Life was precarious, one false move, one careless word and you could be dead. The taste testers banded together through necessity. They tried to support each other so they all lived to see another day.
During times of war people adopt a different set of rules and moral codes. Love is snatched wherever in order to prove that people are still alive. There are themes of trust, truth, lies and guilt – guilt because they did what they did in order to survive.
I found The Women At Hitler’s Table an epic read. It was a very informative novel. I had not heard of taste testers for Hitler although I knew Stalin was cautious in all areas. It was unusual for me to read about World War II from a German perspective. I can certainly recommend this novel, it is an eye opener.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

It’s 1943 in East Prussia and Hitler is holed up in his secret headquarters, the Wolfsshanze, convinced he’s going to be murdered. So ten women are chosen to taste his food before he eats it, quite simply to make sure it’s not poisoned. Inspired by the true story of Margot Wolk, it follows Rosa, a 26 year old woman, who fled Berlin to stay with her in-laws in the countryside while her husband is away fighting only to be recruited by the SS as a food taster. There are ups and downs along the way as she gets to know the other women and also the guards. I had no idea this actually happened and it was a fascinating read. Imagine having to eat not knowing if it would be your last meal. The only plus side was she was well fed where others had little. Thank you to Harper Collins for choosing me to read and review this book.

This was a very sad story with no happy parts at all but I suppose that is what Germany was like during World war Two. Even the ending was unhappy and rather up in the air. A very tragic time in history.

What a book. Don’t think I even had time to take a breath whilst reading, I just wanted to get to the next page then the next. Amazing.