Review: Skeletons at the Feast

Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Mom gave me this book last time I was in Florida - from the receipt inside, it looks like it was actually from Rochelle.

It was a gripping book - hard to put down but also terribly sad. I remember reading several books by Bohjalian, particularly [b:Midwives|5166|Midwives|Chris Bohjalian|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405281567s/5166.jpg|3221872] followed by a few others when that was popular, but I hadn't read him in at least a decade. I forgot how well he could tell a story and develop characters. Both of which - boy - he can.

This book is about several intersecting stories during WWII. One is about a few women in a concentration camp. One story line is about a Jewish man who survives WWII by pretending to be a German soldier. And the third story is about a German family who, when it becomes obvious that Germany is going to lose the war, begins to walk across the country in the hopes that the Scottish POW they have living with them will be their ticket to safety. I think it's the inclusion of the German family that makes this story unique among Holocaust literature I've read in the past.

One clever thing that Bohjalain does is contrast the trek that the German family is making with that of the women in the concentration camp. You're reading about the Germans, and how they are running out of food, then trading their jewelry for food, and being scared by the bombs and shooting. Then in the next chapter are unspeakable horrors at the camp and you remember that the Germans supported Hitler and don't actually have it so bad.

He does a lot of great character building - the young Jewish man, the POW, the daughter of the Jewish family, one woman at the camp - all of them are central characters, thoroughly described and developed.

I really enjoyed this and will be sure to put him back in my reading rotation soon.



View all my reviews