Rosa is one of 10 women employed to taste the food of Hitler to ensure it is not poisoned.. Her husband is missing in action,she is living with her in laws and Hitler is losing WW2. An interesting book based on fact, well written and shows how a normal civilian in Germany must have felt during WW2

THE WOMEN AT HITLER'S TABLE

'The Führer needs you' was the command that followed the ominous rap on the door. This statement leads the reader into a disturbing read about a group of women who were forced to be Hitler's human guineapigs, the tasters of his food an hour before he was to be served with the identical menu, in an attempt to detect poison in the führer's food.
This is a fascinating peep into a hitherto unknown facet of W.W.II history, based on the reminiscences of one of the original 'tasters'.

Surprisingly I found that the protagonist did not evoke my sympathy. Despite being press-ganged into Hitler's service, I felt she was a cold, very flawed character. I had no empathy with some of the decisions she made. However, the novel is well written and brings to life this little known side of Nazi life. Despite my not engaging with Rosa Sauer, this is a compelling read and I have no hesitation of recommending The Women at Hitler's Table to anyone with a thirst for the history of recent times.

The premise for this novel is absolutely fascinating whilst at the same time makes my blood run cold. Based on the women who tasted Hitlers food, the novel follows these individuals as they carry out this most appalling job. Told from the viewpoint of Rose Sauer, a Berliner and therefore an outsider in the countryside where this takes place, I found this a heartbreaking and bleak novel though extremely well written. The reader doesn’t learn much about the other women at Hitler’s table apart from Elfriede, and it takes a long while for Rose to be acknowledged and accepted as part of this group. Living with her in laws whilst her husband is missing in action Rose and these other women live a life that none of us can even begin to imagine.What strange circumstances to say the least to find yourself in, twice daily eating food that could potentially be poisonous, never knowing if the next meal could be your last. This trade off between eating decent food whilst so many were starving must have been hard to reconcile in one’s mind. Not knowing why these particular women were chosen, I suppose this simply became their role in the war effort and they must have felt set aside from fellow Germans whilst at the same time accepting this was their fate. There is one truly horrible scene that takes place in the dining room which highlights the pointless nature of this war and the thousands and thousands of ordinary individuals sacrificed in Hitlers quest for domination. Never knowing whom to trust, having to be so careful what you said meant constantly living life on a knife’s edge. Rose’s relationship with Lieutenant Ziegler also reminds us what people are capable of in desperate times. Although living through a war, people still had desires, longings, ambitions and Rose is no different, struggling to adapt to life with her in laws as well as not knowing whether her husband is dead or alive.
With a poignant ending, this novel is incredibly thought provoking, and though fascinating I didn’t find it gripping. If you enjoy historical fiction then I do think it’s well worth a read, even if it simply serves as a reminder to how fortunate so many of us are. The Women at Hitlers table is definitely the kind of novel what will linger in your thoughts long after you’ve read the last word.
My thanks as always to the author and publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

The Women at Hitler's table is an important historical fiction novel. For it focuses on a wartime 'role' that is not well publicised at all. Of course, it probably is known that Hitler had tasters to test his food in case of poisoning by enemies. but I'm not sure it's so well known that these testers were Women.

Loosely based on the life Margot Wölk; one of Hitler's food testers, this novel focuses on the fictional Rosa Sauer. Rosa is living with her in-laws for barely a week when the knock on the door comes. SS officers, informing her that she is required to start work the next day with the words 'The Führer needs you'.

Rosa admittedly has 'never been a good German' and has no idea why she has been chosen, but she must accept her fate if she is continue to survive the War. And of course, when people are hungry due to rationing, it is not exactly a bad job.

Unless you consider the fact that if anyone does attempt to poison Hitler, then you could die...

Rosa and her fellow chosen women try not to think about this too much. Indeed, apart from some mild hysteria on the very first day of testing (quickly shut down by the SS guards in the food hall) the women seem to enjoy each others company and the role that they have been given.

They get to know each other well, and look out for each other. Sometimes a little too much. For Rosa has a secret. One that she cannot tell anyone. If anyone ever finds out, then she will endanger their lives as well as her own.

In times of war, we all make decisions that we may not make in other, more usual circumstances, and Rosa must decide if hers is worth the risk. Or if she should learn to be a 'good German' ..

Good. Even though at times the writing was a bit disjointed and confusing at times it was still a good story based on real people.

Whilst a powerful read,but honestly frightening at the same time I did enjoy it. A must read for fans.

I so looked forward to reading this book. I liked that it was a WW2 setting. I liked the idea that Hitler was so paranoid about being poisoned that he employed female food tasters. I liked that it was loosely based on Margot Wolk, a food taster that never told her story until just before she died at age 96, but sadly for me I found the story very slow, and often a little bit repetitive.
Thank you to NetGalley , the publishers and also the author for an arc copy of this book..

This is an incredibly powerful and disturbing read about the lives of a group of women who were enforced to be tasters for Hitler during WW2. I understand that this is based on what we know to have really happened at that time, although the details and characters are fictitious. I have to admit that although really interested in the social and emotional history portrayed, I did not enjoy reading this. It seemed too long to me and I did not warm to Rosa, the main protagonist. It is overall not a comfortable read but an interesting premise and period of history to learn about.

A very interesting and sobering book to read. I hadn't been aware of the women who tasted all Hitler's food to ensure it was safe to eat, but of course it makes sense, and knowing this was based on an actual person made the horror and worry of what they could expect to go through and did actually experience even more shocking. It seems wrong to say I enjoyed the book but it was fascinating to learn more of these women's lives, together with other terrible events. Many thanks to the publisher's and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this incredible tale.

This was an interesting book, a story inspired by a true story of the women who risked their lives on a daily basis eating food prepared for Hitler.

I've read many historical novels set during WW2 but this is the first one based in the east of Germany, with a primarily female set of characters.

The story includes flashbacks in Rosa's life - her parents, her husband, her life in Berlin before the war. We meet the other woman who have been conscripted with Rosa - and find out about the hardships endured for the rural German people during the later years of the war.

Rosa is facing possible death every day, three times a day. How will this affect her choices and morals and friendships?

I enjoyed reading this and have recommended it to other readers too. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for my digital review copy.

As a lover of history and studying about Nazi Germany in school- I found this book interesting and very insightful. It gives the readers a very personal and private view of the lives for 10 women who are food tasters to Hitler. Ensuring that none for his food is poisonous.
It is centred round Rosa and her life /family. But you are also invited to read about the other ladies and their journey and lives.
Like with the majority of historical WW2 books in places it is very heartbreaking, difficult and disturbing to read. But history is there for a purpose and not to be neither forgot nor glossed over.
Recommended read

Amazing, loved this book! It was fascinating to know it's based on real life. Incredibly powerful and emotional too at times.

I didn't realise at first that this was a book in translation, and in fact never would have, had I not looked it up- the writing is that good: spare and quite beautiful in places. The story itself is as bleak and harrowing as you would expect, but an interesting slant to see how Germans lived with the horror of their leader's decisions.
I read a review which excoriated the protagonist Rosa for her complicity, but for me that was the draw of this tale, based on a real woman. How did non-Jews deal with their circumstances? How would we? Not everyone - in fact hardly anyone - is a hero.
My main question isn't about the book and I would love an answer to it but can't find anything online - why were ostensibly loyal German women of child-bearing age forced to be Hitler's food tasters and have their lives risked, rather than Jews, whose lives weren't valued? It's not as if the German women weren't transported, guarded, restrained, suspected - so it can't have been to cut the costs in time and and manpower. Could it be that there were so few left in 1944 to provide the human guinea pigs the Nazis required, or that they would have been in an unfit physical state to compare with a healthy adult? In any case why not use German men who weren't soldiers?

A thought-provoking opening and one that introduces the dilemmas the women faced as they were forced to eat samples of the food prepared for Hitler. Postorino certainly had me wondering whether I would have willingly carried out that role, especially if I was underfed and undernourished, or would I, if I had hated the nazis, dared to have refuse?
This is told in a very personal way that engages the reader in the daily lives and fears of those involved. My only reservation is that I sometimes found the main character's obsession with her lover, the Obersturmführer, a little far-fetched and implausible.
Overall, a quite emotional trip into this aspect of Nazi history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for this copy in exchange for an honest review..

Rosa has fled Berlin to stay with her in laws whilst her husband fights in the war. She soon finds herself forced to work. She is to taste Hitler's food to ensure it's not poisoned along with some other women she come to know. Rosa is dealing with her husband missing and knowing she could die any day.

This is based off a true story and it's such a powerful read. I've read a few stories about the war but never one like this. The story draws you in and keeps you hooked. There were a couple of times when I got confused as Rosa thought about times from the past. The ending was sad and touching, it finished the story well. This is well written and definitely worth a read.

During WWII there were many people who wanted to put an end to Hitler’s reign of terror, and as the tide began to turn against him in 1943, those tasked with keeping him safe had to come up with every conceivable plan to ensure his continued leadership. With this in mind, every method by which his assassination could be carried out had to be covered. This included ten women who were employed as Hitler’s food tasters, and this novel is loosely based on Margot Wölk who died at the age of 96, shortly after revealing her part in serving Hitler as one of his food tasters.

Three times a day these women were forced to consume meals prepared for the Fuhrer to ensure that the food hadn’t been poisoned - too bad for these women if it had been - each bite could have been their last! One can only imagine the fear that these women endured. On the one hand they were being fed delicious food, when others in their community were starving, but that sustenance could also have been their killer.

The storyline concentrated on food taster 26 year old Rosa, she’s very much a loner, both her parents are dead and her husband Gregor is fighting on the front line, and she’s now living with Gregor’s parents.

Rosa is a deep thinking, emotionally flawed character with whom I sadly failed to connect. I couldn’t resolve myself with some of the decisions she made, and although I realise that these were extremely difficult times and choices were limited, she came across as very cold and distant, and on finishing the book, I felt I knew little more about her than I had at the beginning.

Even though I didn’t engage with the protagonist, I do think the novel was interesting and beautifully written, almost quiet and subdued in its style - the author said what she had to without great fanfare.I

Rosella Postorino writes an impressively researched blend of historical fact and fiction in this translated novel, already an Italian bestseller. It is inspired by the late in life interview and revelations of Margot Wolk of her unusual wartime role as a food taster for Hitler. In 1943, it was becoming increasing clear that Germany were unlikely to win the war, Hitler was feeling increasing hemmed in and paranoid with his growing number of enemies, living in his hidden, secure and well guarded headquarters at Wolfschanze (Wolf's Lair). With her parents dead, 26 year old Rosa Sauer escapes the Allied bombardment of Berlin, to her husband, Gregor's parents more rural abode, where she stands out like a sore thumb as a urban dweller. However, safety is the last thing she gets when she is recruited by the SS to be part of a group of women who are to taste all Hitler's meals to ensure he does not get poisoned, whilst under the gaze of the well armed soldiers.

There is an inherent contradiction in Rosa's role, on the one hand she eats well in comparison to other Germans facing starvation, but on the other hand, there is the fear of living under constant threat, of playing a version of Russian roulette, where each meal may be her last one. She is not a member of the Nazi party, but she is playing the role of collaborator in ensuring that Hitler continues to live. She faces a number of moral dilemmas, but has chosen to do whatever it takes to survive, selecting to remain blind and ignorant to what has been happening under Nazi rule and the horrors perpetrated by them. Insights are provided into the group of women tasters, the simmering conflicts, strains and tensions between the regime loyalists and those who are more critical, the abuse the women face and the relationships that are formed between them.

This is a story of guilt, shame, love, fear and secrets, of what life was like for many ordinary Germans, the difficulties of speaking out, the moral ambiguities of being at war, and the repercussions of WW2 on those who survived. Rosa can be a hard woman to empathise with, her emotional coldness and distance, and her decisions and behaviour hard to understand. This is a dark, disturbing and unsettling read, an uncomfortable rendering of how human beings can behave when living under the pressures of war, where the unacceptable becomes all too normal, under a murderous, heavily controlling, Nazi regime. This is a beautifully written novel, but an uneven read which paints a intensely chilling picture of WW2 and its fallout. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

Germany WWII. There were plenty of people who wanted Hitler dead. One of the ways they tried to protest their leader was to have women assigned to be food tasters. Hitler was convinced that the British were trying to poison him so he hired ten women to eat every meal one hour before he did.

This book is much more than just food tasting. This is a well researched historical fiction based on war time experiences. The book is loosely based on Margot Wolk Thomas one of Hitlers food tasters for several years. As well as tasting the food they were observed for the hour after they had eaten. The book was originally released in 2017, written I Italian and called At The Wolf's Table. The book has been translated from Italian into English.

I would like to thank Netgalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and the author Rosella Postorino for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Based upon the true story of Margot Wolk, this is quite a thought provoking and chilling tale, of WW2 experiences. Margot and other women are food tasters for Adolf Hitler. They are required to eat food, at least an hour before Hitler does, to see if there is any poison in his food. If there is, he survives and they die.
In this story, Margot, has been changed to Rosa, she is the main character. This maybe because Margot died before she could be interviewed by the author. Rosa, is a young wife, whose husband, Gregor, went to war, four days after their wedding. She lives with her in laws , until she is chosen to become a food taster. The story is told via timelines, her job, her search for her missing husband, and then present day, when she is visiting Gregor, with his new wife and family.
This is a very well researched story, and deals with an area that I had never heard of before. Margot, was the last of the food tasters, and kept her secret for many decades after the end of the war, only revealing the details at the grand age of 96. Was she ashamed of eating well, when other people were starving and being sent to the Death camps?
There is a part of the story that appears to be missing, what happened between the period Rosa escaped from Germany after the fall of the Reich, and the present day accounts of visiting her husband in hospital,alongside his new wife and family. It is hinted that Rosa and Gregor live together in a fragile relationship before calling it a day, but the reader has to make up their own mind. I feel this is unfair, considering how much detail went into the main body of this story. Perhaps, modern times were not as easy to justify, as actions taken during the war, in an effort to survive.
I will recommend this book, as it complements the bravery of women ,in mainly unrecognised roles. I found the war time story to be insightful, and felt the action and emphasis faded towards the last chapters. A useful reassessment of history.

I chose this book shortly after I had read The Tattooist of Auschwitz and so was probably expecting too much. This story is much slower and I found less interesting. However the book is very well researched and taught me about something I was completely unaware of before reading it.