What will stick with me about this book is thinking about the ten women "tasters" who knew any bite of food could be the one that kills them. It would make the very act of bodily nourishment extremely anxiety inducing and maybe affect the way food was perceived for the rest of their lives??
However, in the story the author wove, it didn't seem to phase them overly much. A survival mechanism?? If the risk of their positions was negated, there was the upside of being well fed. Perhaps the best fed people in all of Germany (aside from Hitler) in a time when food was very scarce.
I really wish this could have been a nonfiction book. A retelling of the true life story of Margot Wolk ~ the only surviving real food taster of Hitler's. Now that would have been fascinating. I wonder why no one thought to interview her before she died?? Sadly another story lost to history.
I expected the book to be a bit more dramatic than it was? Maybe some of the girls actually dying from something they ingested?? I also thought Rosa Sauer, the protagonist, was a tough character to like. You'd think she'd elicit sympathy based solely on her job description but somehow I found myself not liking her much.
The concept of the book is an interesting one and I doubt I'll ever look at a member of Royalty or High rank again without wondering if they have a personal "taster" (or two) on retainer.
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