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CRC Blog Analysis on
The Women
In The Castle
by Jessica Shattuck
“The Missing Pieces”
Jessica
Shattuck’s The Women In the Castle was published in hardcover on March 28,
2017 and in paperback on January 2, 2018 by William Morrow First Edition and
William Morrow Paperbacks.
And the party does continue and the upper
crust of society show up, dance to the music of the day, enjoy the treasure
trove of food, drink the best liquor as they wait in line to shake the famous
Countess’s hand. Above Right: Vintage postcard of Bavaria in 1938. 
Even still Marianne pushes the bad
thoughts away for her to focus on the party only to realize that her husband Albrecht is nowhere to be seen. She immediately goes to the library where she
finds her husband in a special meeting with Martin Constantine Feidermann, and other important men; one of whom
she has never met before – Pietre
Grabarek, who raced from Munich to the castle to deliver two fold news: Ernst von Rath has died and Hitler is planning
a riot – what we now term the The Night
of Broken Glass. (Above Right: von Rath in 1934)
“I agree with the principle.” Albrecht spoke slowly into the swell of
support. “But active collusion against
our government- this government – is a dangerous thing. And we have wives and
families to consider. I’m not suggesting
we should not only that we think carefully –“
“Your wives and families will support
you,” Marianne interrupted, surprising
herself and the rest of the room. It came
out like a rebuke. Albrecht was always
so measured, slow, and thoughtful. A
plodding tortoise to Connie’s leaping stage.
“All of them",” von Strallen asked wryly.
“All of them,” Marianne repeated. von Strallen was a chauvinist. He told his silly wife, Missy, nothing and
took her nowhere. Poor Missy, treated
like a dumb fattened cow.
“And bear the risk?” Albrecht asked gently.
“And bear the risk” Marianne repeated.
“All right,” Connie said, turning his
intense gaze upon her. “Then you will
see to it that they are all right. You
are appointed the commander of wives and children.”
Marianne takes her role as commander of
the wives of children seriously – especially when the husbands are caught in a
failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944, and as a result,
the three men (Martin Constantine Fiedermann, Pietre Grabarek, Albrecht von
Lingenfels) were hanged.
After the war Marianne keeps her promise
of being the commander of the wives and their children. In June of 1945 she finds Martin Constantine
Fidermann’s wife Benita and their son Martin and brings them back to the castle
to reside with her and her three children Fritz, Katarina and Elizabeth. In August of 1945 Marianne finds Pietre Grabarek’s
wife Ania and their two sons Anselm and Wolfgang.
These women and their children reside in
the castle revealing their own individual characters, so different from one
another. Through this revealing
deceptions are discovered, hopes of redemption are denied, true love is
shattered, and innocence is forever lost.
And yet each woman is an epitome of individuality, compassion and
redemption within herself.
The chapters take place in January of 1923; the
years 1934 and 1935; March of 1938; November of 1938; the year 1943; January of
1945; April to May of 1945; August of 1945; December of 1945; May to October of
1950; December of 1950; July of 1991; and October of 1991.
The book is entertaining and well written but
yet I was hoping for the castle Burg
Lingenfels to have a more active role as character in the story. Instead the three widows and their children only
live in Burg Lingenfels Castle for
six months from June of 1945 to December of 1945, which only covers the first
of four sections in The Women In the
Castle. The character Burg Lingenfels
Castle leaves the pages of the book after December of 1945 and does not
return until October of 1991.
There seems to be missing pieces in the
hardcover edition – specifically concerning Ania Grabarek, which fortunately
the author Jessica Shattuck recognizes and as a result has included the so
called missing chapter, which takes place on February 13, 1945 in the paperback
edition.
I also wanted to know more information
about an act of violence that Benita Feiderman, German prisoner of war Franz
Muller, and an unidentified Russian soldier are involved in. 
One of the most touching scenes from The
Women in the Castle is when Martin, the son of Benita, and Anselm and
Wolfgang, the sons of Ania, make a special trip to a POW camp where German
prisoners of war are imprisoned where Franz Muller is imprisoned. (Right: German POW camp guarded by the Americans)
“Here!”
Martin was the first to speak.
“We brought this for you.” With
frozen fingers he pushed his half candy bar and tin of cheese through the
fence.
“For me?”
Herr Muller asked, studying their faces.
Martin nodded.
“Do your mothers know you came here?”
Martin shook his head.
“Ah.”
Muller seemed to consider this.
“It was kind of you.”
The boys stamped their feet against the
cold.
“Have you met anyone named Brandt?” Wolfgang asked, and his words were slightly
breathless as if he had pushed them out.
Muller frowned. “I don’t think so. From where?”
The Grabareks exchanged another
glance. “The Warthegau.” Anselm answered this time.
Muller shook his head.
“Your father?” Martin asked, unable to stop himself.
“No,” Wolfgang said his voice harsh. “Our father is dead.”
Who,
then? Martin wanted to ask, but
didn’t.
Muller regarded them in silence. “Well, thank you,” he said finally. “Take care of yourselves. And your mothers. And don’t come back here.”
The one term “the missing pieces” describes Women
In The Castle perfectly because, as Jessica Shattuck stated on her web
page video, (Right) the characters in this book do not live in black and white but in
the gray. She further describes these
characters as ordinary Germans – those who were aware of what was going on in Hitler’s
Nazi Germany and said nothing. All were
still ordinary Germans, ordinary human beings.
Something humanity will always try to understand but that missing piece
of our understanding will never be clearly explained.
And it is these missing pieces that makes
us human and makes The Women in the Castle a book to savor and to treasure.
Jessica Shattuck
Facebook Page
Jessica Shattuck Web
Page
William Morrow Facebook
Page
The Women In The Castle paperback
on Amazon
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