Connor Davison’s Reviews > In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin > Status Update

Hitler started killing all the top German government officials in fall of 1934 I think it was

Dodd and his family are noticing an increase in surveillance and social anxiety over the Nazi regime. They communicate that life is subtly different but in every capacity, creating a different life in 1934 compared to 1933. Conversations have to be in private away from phones, and Hitler is pissed about the trial in NY.

Dodd pushes back against papen yet wins his friendship after the ball. Bella fromms friend commits suicide after finding she has a Jewish grandmother, a growing trend

Martha met Hitler, was not impressed. Dodd is getting increasingly annoyed with messersmith and is looking for his transfer out of Germany through undersecretary Phillips

Martha tries to throw parties but the change in Germany at the time made them venues to eat and get drunk rather than have interesting discourse. Dodd gave a controversial speech aimed at getting Germany/world to understand what’s actually happening. Haefenstagel wants Martha to be Hitlers girl. Hitlers past with women is deeply troubling, large age gaps, courting his niece who chose to kill herself etc

Diels left Germany after fear from himmler, is trying to see if he can go back. Martha is becoming more socially prominent, wanting to throw her own social gatherings

Martha starts dating a Russian guy named Boris which is scaring both embassies/sides of that relationship. Boris is likely a KGB agent as well

Dodds been having to go to regular ambassador meetings that are too lavish for his liking. He daringly orchestrated France Britain and Spain to decline a Nazi party invitation which was interesting. Dodd is not happy about the state of the country yet hides American beatings from the newspaper ‘so as not to be unfriendly’ which is cowardly.