Name: Skeletons at the Feast
ISBN: 9780307394958

Christopher A. Bohjalian

During the final months of World War II, a small group of people make their way westward across a ravaged Europe in a desperate attempt to reach British and American lines.

A Novel

Skeletons at the Feast

Jan Talkington

I rarely re-read books, but this is one that I dove into again. A different view of WWII and the people who suffered. As any Chris Bohjalian book is - well written. A sad but encouraging story of perseverance, compassion and survival.

Rebecca Light

This is one of the most challenging and gut-wrenching novels I have ever read. I am drawn to this part of history as I'm endlessly fascinated and disturbed that such gruesome attrocities could take place in such recent history and in such a seemingly civilized part of the world. I was not prepared for how graphic and disturbing this book would be however. For the first half of the novel I felt the violence was gratuitous and exploitive. I'm still not sure if the level of horror illustrated in this book exceeds or matches what really happened to the Jews, but I pray that Bohjalian was being hyperbolic for effect as it was beyond harrowing. I've studied this part of history quite a bit and even visited a concentration camp in Germany, so I understand the level of evil we're talking about it here. This novel still managed to shock me into horror. Now onto why I loved the novel and urge anyone with a strong stomach to read it; the characters. I fell in love with them all. I became so invested in their survival and their journey, I felt like I was with them. I honestly can't remember the last time I was so invested in the characters in a novel. I dreamt about it. I imagined myself with these people on their harrowing journey. It actually really got under my skin and started to depress me. Most of the time with a depressing book you can at least remind yourself, oh it's only fiction these people aren't real. But I couldn't do that with this. Yes these particular characters are fiction, but some semblance of this horror did happen to innocent people and the level with which this novel hits you in the gut with that is difficult to withstand, but very important because if it happened once it can happen again and we can never let that happen. Ignorance is what let it happen in Germany. We must never forget. I won't say much more except that when I finished the book, I literally dropped my Kindle and wept. Wept for a good 10 minutes, partially out of relief, partially grief and partially joy at a resolution that I won't even begin to give away. Read this book. It's a tough one, but cathartic in the end. Read it.

Skeletons at the Feast A Novel

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