It’s 1943 and Rosa Sauer’s husband, Gregor, is away fighting with the German army. After her mother is killed in a bomb raid, Rosa moves from Berlin to East Prussia to live with Gregor’s parents. But it’s no safer there. She is conscripted into a new job as a food taster for Hitler.

Twice a day, Rosa and nine other women are taken to the Wolfschanze, the Wolf ’s Lair, Hitler’s secret headquarters. The women taste all the food prepared for Hitler to ensure it’s not poisoned and then are forced to wait an hour to see if they will die. Terrified at first, they eventually settle into a routine. While their fellow Germans are ground down by the war, the women are well paid and well fed.

Despite their possible shared fate, the women are not allies, with some loyal to Hitler and others not. The instinct for self-preservation kicks in, although Rosa stops caring about her own fate once she finds out Gregor is missing. But her desire to love is awakened once she catches the eye of the SS officer overseeing them. As the war draws to its inevitable conclusion, Rosa must try to escape the consequences of being on the wrong side.

This is a fascinating read, based on the true story of Hitler’s food tasters. It’s a part of WWII history I’d never heard of and I was intrigued by the premise. Unfortunately, the food angle gets submerged among the stories of war from the perspective of German women, as well as Rosa’s personal story. Overall, though, it is a thought-provoking novel that explores little-known history and raises many questions for the reader to ponder.

Reviewed by Melinda Woledge