The Women at Hitler’s Table

This is such a powerful book, which I enjoyed very much and learned such a lot from it. It is a true story about Margot Wolk who is one of 10 women food testers for Hitler, tasting his luxurious food in case it was poisoned before he ate it.

The story is centralized around Rosa Sauer she has no parents and is married to Gregor. who has gone missing presumed dead? His parents live in East Prussia and she goes to live with them whilst he is on the front line.

Some of the women are anti-Hitler but a lot hold him in high esteem and want to get close to him and get to know him.

We read about the plot to kill Hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg, whom Rosa met with.
Even though it would have been odd to leave it out I found the pages of The Holocaust disturbing and hard to read.
All in all, It was an interesting book, with a good insight into what went on behind closed doors.
Thank you, NetGalley x

This was an incredibly emotional read. I was completely unaware of the food tasters and it was an interesting piece of history to learn about.

I didn’t want to put this book down but at the same time didn’t want it to end. There was so much emotion in this story that I finished it with tears rolling down my face.

For anyone who likes reading books set in and around WW2 this book is a must read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Wow what a read, I was lost within the story and just didn’t want it to end.
I’m actually having trouble putting into words just how much I enjoyed this book and what a difficult, heartbreaking read - so many emotions and not enough words.... wow just wow

What a brilliant read, I didn't want it to end. Based on a true story of the women who were made to test all the food before Hitler ate it, each day, to check if anything was poisoned. We learn about each girl at the table and their different stories, but the main character is Rosa, who finds her own way to survive what she's going through. Not necessarily the easiest path to choose, but maybe the only one that she could cope with. It was a hard read at times, but coupled with love, care, compassion, sisterhood, and everything else that happened, I just loved it. I learnt a bit more about life in Germany during what was a very hard time for everyone. I'd only heard a brief reference before to Hitlers food testers, so it was fascinating to learn more about their lives. Thoroughly recommended.

A lovely little love story steeped in history and equally sad but real. Fully recommended and looking forward to more from this author

Emotional moving a book so well written so emotional moving literary fiction that stays with you.Ivwill be recommending this book to my friends and bookclub.#harpercollinsuk.#netgalley

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

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.

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

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.

Wow! Fantastic read. Based on the true story of Hitler's food tasters, Rosa has to find a way to survive. Emotional, challenging and steeped in history. A must read for anyone with an interest in WW2.

What a fantastically written book so throughout this story will stay with me for a long time it so beautiful and the characters are brilliant. Highly recommend this book.

This is a powerful book that will stay with me for quite some time. I was completely unaware of the food tasters and reading about them in this novel was an interesting history lesson. It was a heart-breaking tale and distressing to know that it was based on real life. I can’t say that I actually ‘enjoyed’ the story as I found it upsetting, but my 5 star rating is based on the wonderful ability of the writer to portray the events in a beautifully detailed and evocative manner.

I cannot express how much i enjoyed reading 'The Women at Hitler's Table'. I knew Hitler was afraid of being poisoned, but never knew that he had food tasters. A very gripping read from start to finish. Based on a true story, this was a very emotional read and one that was well written. It is one of those books that i hope to read again one day. Recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, which i have voluntarily given.

*Waiting for Amazon to publish my review*

A fascinating story of the Second World War told from the perspective of women who never mentioned afterwards what they had been required to do.
Rosa has moved from Berlin to East Prussia to live with her husbands parents whilst they wait for news of him from the front. She is enlisted to be a taster for Hitler against the wishes of her in laws and herself .. The Furhrer is paranoid that someone is trying to poison him so has a team of women food tasters brought to his hideout towards the last few years of the war. She finds herself to be one of an assortment of women ,Rosa the sophisticated Berliner who has fancy clothes ,Leni a young innocent peasant girl, Heike and Beate friends and.mothers who leave their children each day not knowing if they will return The women are bussed in every morning and returned home each evening , they are fed well but are too terrified that the food may be poisoned to appreciate or enjoy it. The SS guard their every move whilst they are on duty but despite this the women form friendships .
A story of female relationships ,survival and hope with the sinister backdrop of Hitler’s Germany and all that entailed The story illustrates how war affects everyone, not just those with the belief they are right . It shows that not all Germans were Nazis or even approved of them but many turned a blind eye to survive themselves and how they lived with that knowledge for the rest of their lives.

Rosa has lost her parents and her Berlin flat in the bombing of 1944. She moves to south east Germany to be with her parents in-law, her husband is away in the army. In the forest near her in-laws' home is Hitlers rural retreat. A group of ten women is rounded up to be tasters of Hitler's food to avoid him being poisoned. The novel largely revolves around the dynamics of the group of tasters and how they interact with their captors -although they are paid they have no choice about their employment. compelling and well written, it is well researched and covers the time of the Von Stauffenburg bomb plot of summer 1944. It gives a view of the attitudes of non Nazi party Germans in the late stages of the war..

A fascinating historical novel that made me think and feel. The characters were well drawn and some of them drew quite a bit of sympathy.

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.

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 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.

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.

This was an amazing book inspired by real life events and an article written about Margot Wolk who only spoke of her experience as one of Hitler's food tasters at the age of 96.

It's 1943, and Rosa Sauer has moved from Berlin to East Prussia following the death of her parents. She's living with her in-laws while she awaits the return of her soldier husband, Gregor. She is recruited against her will by the SS to become part of a group of ten women who will become Hitler's food tasters. They must eat the food prepared for Hitler to check that it hasn't been tainted by poison. As Rosa gives up hope of her husband returning home after he's declared missing, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to a Nazi Lieutenant, Albert Ziegler. They begin an illicit affair and her feelings are complicated. She feels ashamed but at the same time - 'in the solitude of my secret, I felt complete freedom'.

It was interesting to read an account of what war was like for a non-Jewish German citizen. Rosa is a complex character, and her feelings about war and love and friendship made her such a strong female character. As the book draws to a close, we learn about her life after the war ended and it was a bitter-sweet conclusion to a beautiful story.