30 October 2008

Skeletons at the Feast

Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian is the story of a group of people walking from Vistula River west to the American and British troops during the end of WWII.

The Emmerich family has live in the Germany for longer than the land was occupied by the Germans. They are a Prussian family thought the war had little to do with them. Two sons served in the German army but at the same time the family helped out Jewish friends. They lived far enough from a town that they were happy to live in their own world.

But with the Russian army advancing on them it is time to move on. Mutti, her daughter Anna, and her son Theo leave home with two wagons full of food for the horses and a hidden Scottish POW.

Along the way they meet up with Uri, a Jew who escaped a train to the death camps and has disguised himself as a German soldier. Together they will travel in the line with other refugees trying to reach the safety of the western front.

Compared to The English Patient, Skeletons at the Feast is a story of love and war and how each affects the human spirit.

Bohjalian, Chris. (2008). Skeletons at the Feast. New York: Shaye Areheart Books.

No comments: