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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
All Possible Charm Apr 23, 2007
The following are comments from members at the April 9, 2007, meeting of the SECOND MONDAY BOOK GROUP located in Prospect Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"The book has all possible charm due to the author's frank revelations and her observations on life."
"She had a life of heavy-duty work, and she survived. It made me feel that if she could, maybe I could."
"Her descriptions made me understand what she was living through."
"I was amazed by her memory. She was consistent in using the child's point of view."
"I liked the simplicity of her writing. She used simple sentence structure but was very direct."
"At first, there was a lot of 'first person,' but it stopped bothering me when I got into the story."
"I wondered, what is the theme? It's more like vignettes. So I watched the chapter titles and got the focus. I think the chapters should be part of an historical society's collection."
"I kept thinking of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books--the slaughter of animals, for example, but this book gave more details."
"The book is remarkably well done. It's heartbreaking."
"I was struck by the universality of the poverty-stricken existence--the whole idea of how you exist when you have almost nothing."
"Rosemarie Schulga did a remarkable job in preserving those old villages for us to read about."
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Vivid portrayal of life in a German farming willage. Aug 05, 2006
In the Shadow of the Mill tells two stories: the vivid memories of one young girl's life while growing up in Germany towards the end of World War 2 and a fascinating account of village life in a community centered around one large farm. It is an engaging and often riveting account of her life as she grew up in a poor family whose livelihood depended on the farm in which her father lived and worked. Her thoughts and her unique view of her world are wonderfully conveyed with vivid vignettes compelling you to keep reading. It is more that just her story; it is a wonderful slice of history of what life was like in a small farm village. This is a portrayal hard to come by in a history book or in the memoirs typically available which usually tell of the lives of those whose access to education was readily available.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The best book ever! Jul 31, 2006
Rosemarie Schulga's book is the best book I've ever read. Who can beat a book this good? And every detail she wrote in there was true. It also feels like you're really there,watching Rosemarie go through her childhood. It is just a wonderful book!
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Survival of Fittest in the Struggle for Life Jul 29, 2006
It is an exceptionally rich assortment of vivid recollections of her childhood, the creation of a mind gifted with exceptional sensitivity, memory and imagination. Her sensitivity extends to animals; her memory goes back to early childhood; her imagination wonderfully blends reality and fantasy.
Her father, in a fit anger, claimed to not be her real father; and she was never treated with the same affection and respect that her siblings received. Hans Christian Andersen wrote a classic story for her, entitled "The Ugly Duckling": a child of swans, raised by ducks, finally leaves her home to happily join the swans.
Because kindness and self-sacrifice did not get her the attention she craved, she mastered the fine art of needling, bringing upon herself verbal and physical punishment. Truth was her sword, and she rarely refrained from using it. However, despite many unkind deeds, all of the ducks did love their ugly duckling, and took good care of her.
Herself, her family, the villagers, and interlopers are clearly described in simple precise English; she puts their behavior under a high-resolution microscope for everyone to examine.
None of her recollections are distorted by political correctness.
Her recollections, diverse and abundant, are for a broad audience of perceptive individuals. Some of her keen observations will even be of interest to historians, psychologists, sociologists, ethologists, and anthropologists seeking to improve our understanding of the complexities of family and village life.
Foremost, she taught me exactly how to raise nine children during war and reconstruction, while living in dire poverty in a harsh climate, surrounded by rather unfriendly neighbors. She and her family are an inspiration to all extremely poor families throughout the world, and throughout time.
I have also come to know the fine German spirit of Rosemarie Schulga, and will never forget her.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
engrossing Jul 12, 2006
Rosemarie Schulga wrote this book out of sheer recollections that she has told her children, friends and family over the years about her childhood in a farmer's village in Northern Germany in and around the second world war. Although her parents were basically farm hands living on a large, fuedal like estate, Rosemarie never felt more at home with her eigth brothers and sisters. Life was and often, a struggle specially during the early years of the war when the author's strong and resourceful father was sent for a brief time to prison because he refused to interpret for the Nazis. Vati (the father) had a rough life growing up as well, being borne in Belaruss, sent to prison at 16 and escaping to Germany and living as an emigre. For what seem like a harsh childhood, Schulga nevertheless has nothing but endearment, recollecting what it was like growing up in a picturesque setting during idyllic times that is no more. She describes in meticulously details, her mother's delicious cooking and also the happy occassions when a little break was taken from the back breaking work, to celebrate a holiday or a village tradition. But having to grow up amidst so many siblings with parents working from sun up and sun down, leaves very little to tend to a liitle girl's sensibilities and curiousities. Rosemarie often recieved slappings from her mother when she ask too many questions or shows a certain weakness like refusing to stir the gushing blood of a pig into a bowl to prevent it from coagulating with her bare hands. The author took the killing of her pet goat for meat, especially hard since she took it for granted that she will be keeping this animal as a pet since she was allowed to treat it like one for a while. The book ends when Rosemorie turned fourteen and her mother has already arranged for her to marry an older farmer down the lane which is nothing unussual for girls her age. But like most survivors of difficult childhoods, Rosemarie was intelligent and had wit and foresight to endure. This book was written in an easy- to-read, conversational prose which took a little to warm up to for the first few pages. But it doesn't take much for the author to draw you in. I really appreciated how the author cherished the wonderful memories of her parents and siblings despite of all the difficulties growing up poor. Her experiences and how she was able to survive them shaped her character and was able to share the finer more cherished ones with her children and with us. I highly recommend this book. It's a wonderful read.
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