Skeletons at the Feast

Blurb

Skeletons at the Feast is a novel by author Chris Bohjalian, published in 2008. It is the story of a journey in the waning months of World War Two concerning the Emmerich family, who flee their beloved home in Prussia and move west to avoid the advancing Russian troops. The family consists of one of the novel's main protagonists, Anna; her mother, known affectionately as "Mutti"; her father, Rolf; her twin brother, Helmut; her younger brother, Theo; and the Scottish POW that once worked on the family's farm, Callum Finella, who becomes Anna's lover. Anna also has an older brother, Werner, who is off fighting in the war. Rolf and Helmut leave the family to aid in stopping the Russian advance and the rest continue on alone; on their westward journey they are joined by Uri Singer, an escaped Jew posing as a Nazi officer. Bohjalian said in an interview he was inspired to write the story after being persuaded to read a diary spanning from 1920 to 1945 belonging to Eva Henatsch, a German woman that embarked on a similar journey west across the Third Reich.