Skeletons at the Feast

Skeletons at the Feast (2008) by Chris Bohjalian. Skeletons at the Feast tells the harrowing stories, based on true accounts, of people caught up in the closing days of World War II on the continent of Europe. One group, a family of German civilians who do not know how evil the Reich has been, is fleeing from East to West, trying to avoid the advancing Russian armies. One individual, named Uri, is a Jew who has miraculously escaped from a transport heading east to a concentration camp; he is shadowing the advancing and retreating armies, taking on the identities of fallen soldiers as he struggles to survive. And one individual, named Cecille, is a Jewish captive being marched west for unspecified reasons by a group of Third-Reich guards who brutalize and execute members of the group who cannot keep up -- or who try to escape. Bohjalian deftly shifts back and forth between the three parallel stories, showing us in unsparing detail the horrors that are being perpetrated by both sides in the final months of the war. It's a masterful performance by the author, and the reader finds himself easily drawn in and fully involved in the stories of these refugees of war. The book's conclusion is not free of tragedy, but there are enough survivors to make it a "happy ending." I recommend this book highly. Grade: A-