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The Vanishing of Katharina Linden

by Helen Grant (Goodreads Author)

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 1,390 ratings · 391 reviews

It isn’t ten-year-old Pia’s fault that her grandmother dies in a freak accident. But tell that to the citizens of Pia’s little German hometown of Bad Münstereifel, or to the classmates who shun her. The only one who still wants to be her friend is StinkStefan, the most unpopular child in school.

But then something else captures the community’s attention: the vanishing of Ka...more

Hardcover, 281 pages

Published August 10th 2010 by Delacorte Press

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The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Alex Award 2011 Winners

3rd out of 10 books — 22 voters

Best Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Novels Of 2011

95th out of 290 books — 964 voters

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Jun 28, 2012 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Shannon (Giraffe Days) by: Alexandra

Shelves: fiction, mystery-suspense, 2012

Ten-year-old Pia Kolvenbach is known at school as the girl whose grandmother blew up. Far from showing any sympathy to a girl whose Oma died on Christmas Day, Pia endures taunts and the sudden absence of her friends. The only person in her class brave enough to sit next to her (in case it's catching) is StinkStefan, himself the most unpopular boy. Pia becomes friends with him by dint of him following her around, and because there's no one else.

When Katharina Linden goes missing at Karneval - jus...more

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Jun 19, 2010 faeriemyst rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-literature, folklore, mystery

One word to describe The Vanishing of Katharina Linden : Engrossing.

My interest in this book was piqued when I saw it described as a "charming horror novel," and while that isn't totally accurate, charming it is, horror it isn't, I very much enjoyed the book. Helen Grant has such an ease about her writing that I find it hard to believe this is her first novel. Her descriptions of Bad Münstereifel and its inhabitants are key to the book and provided most of the atmosphere; I could quite easily vi...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Barbara ~*Lindt Ninja*~ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, arc

I found this to be a truly enjoyable book; equal parts adventure and suspense, creepy and spooky folklore is woven in through stories told by one of the main characters. While the narrator of the story is the ten year-old Pia, her "voice" is rather adult; the tone of the book can be rather graphic at times and it's a little jarring when she mentions her age and you start wondering if you thought like this when you were ten.

The book starts out on a sort of humorous note and it fools you a bit; th...more I found this to be a truly enjoyable book; equal parts adventure and suspense, creepy and spooky folklore is woven in through stories told by one of the main characters. While the narrator of the story is the ten year-old Pia, her "voice" is rather adult; the tone of the book can be rather graphic at times and it's a little jarring when she mentions her age and you start wondering if you thought like this when you were ten.

The book starts out on a sort of humorous note and it fools you a bit; this isn't a funny or light story and it grows even more serious as it progresses. I was increasingly engrossed; this is a moody, atmospheric whodunit and I think it's more successful because it's told from the child's perspective. Pia's fears, her reactions to her parents and the other adults in town set the mood perfectly and ratchet up the suspense.

While reading the book, I had the oddest feeling that I was viewing Pia's village and the story as it unfolded in a little enclosed snow globe. It's a very insular community and the kidnappings, Pia and Stefan's investigations and Herr Schiller's storytellings all contributed to the overall effect of almost suspended time. I was very intrigued by the author's entire handling of the concept of the village; I think I could map the village, smell the bakery, find my way around the school and pick the lock on Herr Duuster's cellar door.

I wouldn't call this a modern fairy tale by any stretch of the imagination. It may come close to the Brothers Grimm; some of the tales told by Herr Schiller to Pia and Stefan are creepy and spooky and may not scare today's younger audience, but I think the mention of the folk tales as an audience reference gives a mistaken impression. This isn't a children's book. It may be narrated by a ten year-old and some of the subject matter may be considered readable by what's probably a twelve or thirteen year-old audience, but this story is periodically gory and graphic and will give the best suspense and occasionally horror movies a run for their money. The ending sent me looking for something else to do before I went to bed and I haven't been thirteen years old for many, many years.(less)

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Sep 15, 2012 Lourdes Fernandez Venard rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is narrated by 10-year-old Pia, who is a pariah at her school in Bad Münstereitel, Germany, after her grandmother explodes during the first night of Advent. Pia finds she only has one friend: Stink-Stefan, the most unpopular boy in her class. When schoolmate Katharina Linden disappears during a town carnival, the duo decide they will gather clues, spurred by their
imagination and local legends involving witches, ghosts and other supernatural beings. These stories...more

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May 10, 2012 Nenia Campbell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-2009s, the-butler-did-it, ya-baby-ya, beautiful-words-lets-swim-in-them, reviewed, pedobear-seal-of-approval, literachore

a genteel murder mystery steeped in superstition and faerie tales.

children are so precious; they live in a world where the lines between fantasy and reality are tremulously thin. their explanations for things they don't understand can border on the fantastic, even while displaying a rather frightening understanding of the events going on around them that, at times, can border on precocious.

helen grant manages to capture ten-year-old pia's thoughts and feelings perfectly, poetically, and beautifu...more

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Apr 15, 2012 April Helms rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery, young-adult

"My life might have been so different, had I not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded." That's the opening line in this book - this has got to be one of the best opening lines ever. The heroine Pia becomes a bit of a pariah in her small town, with only the other most unpopular child at her school left to serve as her sole remaining friend. Indeed, it it weren't for the fantastic stories of the elderly Herr Schiller, life would have been bleak and boring for Pia. But then, young girl...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Krystal rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this book simply because of the cover design. Yes, yes, I know. Don't judge a book by its cover. But guess what. That's what I do 9 times out of 10. Sue me, I'm a designer. It's what I notice first, more often than not.

This is a great coming-of-age story about a young German girl (well, half-German, half-British) who lives in a town going through a bit of a crime spree. Which is to say, several missing children. Little girls, snatched up from underneath everybody's watchful eyes. Thi...more I picked up this book simply because of the cover design. Yes, yes, I know. Don't judge a book by its cover. But guess what. That's what I do 9 times out of 10. Sue me, I'm a designer. It's what I notice first, more often than not.

This is a great coming-of-age story about a young German girl (well, half-German, half-British) who lives in a town going through a bit of a crime spree. Which is to say, several missing children. Little girls, snatched up from underneath everybody's watchful eyes. This being a very small town, these kidnappings are most disturbing. Gossip and suspicion abound.

Anybody who's ever lived in a small town can certainly appreciate this book, as the reactions to the kidnappings occur in such a realistic way. You can easily imagine your neighbors acting in just the same way in your own small town, were something so awful to occur. But what was so particularly interesting about this book is not just that it shows a realistic portrayal of a town and family ripped apart by a series of terrible events, but that it's told from the perspective of a child.

Children have a special way of seeing things; it's what makes them great characters in books, in my opinion. And this is no exception. This child has grown up listening to stories told by a kindly neighbor, stories full of magic and lore. Therefore, when strange things begin to happen in her town - other little girls vanishing as if by magic - she naturally begins to suspect that something otherwordly is going on. Now, we as adult readers know this isn't the case ... or do you? There is a wonderful blend of childish whimsy and realistic portrayals. I wasn't entirely sure if the book was going to take the fantastical route until the very end when the clues started coming together. And when those clues do finally reveal what's behind the mystery ... well. I was shocked. I hope because it was cleverly done and not because I'm just that dense. I actually was sure the culprit was going to be another seemingly harmless character, which I thought was twist enough, but then it turned out to be someone completely different. They twisted my twist!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had a little of everything: childhood innocence, fantastical folklore, grisly kidnappings, a fascination mystery, and thoroughly interesting characters everywhere you turned. Not to mention that you're going through all this alongside the narrator, a little girl going through her own coming-of-age problems. I definitely recommend this book to any lovers of mystery. Great read!

* on a minor note: I did have one complaint, which had nothing to do with the story and everything to do with the physical construction of the book itself. The hardcover edition I read had a deckle edge on the pages. This doesn't bother me, in fact, I think it adds a lovely detail to a book. However, in this story, set in Germany as it is, there are often little words and phrases scattered here and there that are written in German, to add to the atmosphere of the story. There is a glossary in the back to define all these words and phrases, which I definitely recommend doing as they sometimes flesh out necessary dialogue. The problem I had was that with the deckle edge, it's very difficult to flip back and forth to the glossary. The way the deckle edge is constructed makes it hard to flip to a certain section as it wants to flip in sections, in the chunks that makes up the deckle edge. It was minor and yes, ridiculous to complain about, but extremely annoying nevertheless. And now I have ranted about it and I feel better. :)(less)

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Mar 05, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent book. Not sure I didn't like it so much since I am of German descent and speak ein bisschen. Loved the setting - invoked the feeling of a small village and loved the German traditions. Story was enticing. Off to get the next book of hers......

It isn’t ten-year-old Pia’s fault that her grandmother dies in a freak accident. But tell that to the citizens of Pia’s little German hometown of Bad Münstereifel, or to the classmates who shun her. The only one who still wants to be her friend is...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Reanapatel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, Fantasy Fiction.

After her grandmother died in an unusual way, Pia Kolvenbach is always being talked about and stared at, she was the centre of attention in the city of Bad Münstereifel. The only person who is willing to be her friend is StinkStefan, the most unpopular child in the school.

Very soon after that tragic event, another huge event takes place; Katharina Linden disappears at a carnival. She was last seen at a fountain in a Snow White costume. No one s...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Josie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, carnegie-shortlist

I really liked this! I was surprised to discover it was a debut novel -- the writing is really strong, and some of the lines are just fantastic. ("Onkel Thomas was a man of very plain tastes and would as soon have thought of eating witchetty grubs as something non-German.") The tone and the story reminded me a lot of To Kill A Mockingbird -- a girl who wants to solve a mystery, an adult world she doesn't yet understand, a coming-of-age novel -- but not in a derivative way. Helen Grant's narrativ...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Anstjfla rated it 4 of 5 stars

The story is about a german-english girl named Pia, with a grandma (Oma Kristel)who "exploded" right in front of her eyes. Why wouldn't people forget it? Why wouldn't they let the memory go away? Pia experiences a type of attention that she believes, is worth not having, and only a boy of her age that didn't have any friends named Stefan-"Stinkstefan" as his nickname because he sticks his nose into private matters that others even bother to look at and hangs in there like a stench of stink-stick...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

I received this as an advanced reading book, and even though it took me a while to get around to reading it - my dissertation proposal draft was handed in last week and my TBR list keeps growing - I thoroughly enjoyed Helen Grant's first novel.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, once you get past the really wordy title, is somewhat mystery, somewhat realistic, somewhat portrait of what life can be like in a small town - in this case, in Germany at the end of the twentieth century. I don't want to...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

I usually listen to audiobooks only when I paint or when I do house chores. Well, I did not have enough house chores for this one, and as I could absolutely not wait to get more hours on the following days, I ended up listening to it sitting on my couch. I have NEVER done this before. This is enough to say this is a real page turner, you get the idea, even if that one was an audiobook.

A friend of mine asked why I liked it so much. It is actually hard to pinpoint, apart from the fabulous quality...more

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May 18, 2011 Jackie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was more than I expected, and less than I hoped. I most likely would not have picked this book up based on the cover - somehow it isn't attractive to me. However, the book was recommended so I jumped in. It started well, dragged in the middle and grabbed my interest again at the end.

A few dislikes:

1. Even as a teenager recalling what happened 7 years ago, Pia did not ring true to me as a 10/11 year old. My immediate circle includes several children in that age bracket and Pia is just n...more

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May 01, 2011 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-audio-books, 2011-mysteries

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, by Helen Grant, A-minus, narrated by Justine eyre, produced by Random House Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

It isn't ten-year-old Pia's fault that her grandmother dies in a freak accident. But tell that to the citizens of Pia's little German hometown of Bad Munstereifel, or to the classmates who shun her. The only one who still wants to be her friend is StinkStefan, the most unpopular child in school.But then something else captures the community's attention...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Juushika rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: status-borrowed

The freak accident that kills her grandmother makes Pia a social pariah, but it isn't the only strange thing that happens in the German town of Bad Münstereifel. When a fellow student disappears without a trace, Pia and her only friend investigate local legends and figures to discover what may have become of her. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is good but never quite good enoughpromising as it is, it's missing something. Despite initial appearances (and cover flap), this isn't so much a fair...more The freak accident that kills her grandmother makes Pia a social pariah, but it isn't the only strange thing that happens in the German town of Bad Münstereifel. When a fellow student disappears without a trace, Pia and her only friend investigate local legends and figures to discover what may have become of her. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is good but never quite good enoughpromising as it is, it's missing something. Despite initial appearances (and cover flap), this isn't so much a fairy tale retelling as it is a murder mystery with fairy tale trappings; those fantastic influences often create wonderful atmosphere and depth of setting, but (and this may be a SPOILER, so be warned) the final reveal is wholly mundane. Yet that mundane explanation lacks the substance and depth that the fairy tale aspects give the rest of the book, and so it dissipates their magic and replaces it with nothing much at all. The problem isn't either aspect outright, but rather the balance between them: would that the mundane aspects had more substance, or the fairy tale aspects lingered longer; without either, this promising book ends on a low note.

For it is a promising book. The setting is unusual and brilliantly realized, foreign and fantastic without becoming a caricature. Pia is a believable child narrator for better and worse, irritating sometimes but largely convincing, rooting the fantasy of her story within reality. The fairy tale influences are often brilliant, filtering Pia's view of Bad Münstereifel so that its residents become more vibrant, its shadows darker, its shapes stylized, its events echoed by legend, myth, and archetype. It's the best of a fairy tale retelling, recast atop a real-world mysteryand that could be a fantastic combination, one I don't see often and which this book fosters high hopes for. But it fosters hopes only: Grant never takes her story, style, or depth quite far enough, and the underwhelming conclusion is the book's greatest betrayal. I tried to love The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, and I want to read more books like itbut as it stands, while I admire what it tries to do, I don't recommend it. It's a little too much of a disappointment. Perhaps, with some experience under her belt, Grant will have the guts to take her next book a little further.(less)

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Feb 03, 2011 Lesley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, mystery

This showed up on some lists of adult books for teens and I think it might appeal to some who like spooky, suspenseful stories. The narrator is a teen, but the entire story takes place when she was ten years old, so it's an odd mix of a child's point-of-view with a very adult story: little girls are vanishing without a trace from her seemingly idyllic town. What works well are the descriptions of small-town German life and the way the local grisly folklore seems just as real to the little girl a...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Sarai rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, mystery, general-fiction

I am really wanting to be wowed by a book. It seems I have not had a real "Wow!" moment with a book in a long time. This book missed the mark, too.

This is a good book, interesting. The main character is remembering a time when she was 10 years old and some girls went missing. She seems a very young and naive 10 years old, still believing in ghosts and monsters and fairy tales. She is friends but not friends with the male lead. It was all written pretty realistically - they behaved like kids and...more I am really wanting to be wowed by a book. It seems I have not had a real "Wow!" moment with a book in a long time. This book missed the mark, too.

This is a good book, interesting. The main character is remembering a time when she was 10 years old and some girls went missing. She seems a very young and naive 10 years old, still believing in ghosts and monsters and fairy tales. She is friends but not friends with the male lead. It was all written pretty realistically - they behaved like kids and did things the way a kid would do, even when they were sneaking around trying to find clues. They were not smarter than the adults around them, or more clever. But the book just did not grab me.

There were a few places near the beginning where she was writing as an adult looking back, and it was not clear whether the story was going to be about the 10 year old or the adult, and a couple of times where she ended a chapter with hints of what was to come and then repeated the same thing in the next chapter. It made me feel like, just get to it already! I also got tired of the whole grandma-burning-up thing. That, of everything else, was the most unrealistic. Not that it couldn't happen, but surely there could have been something else less silly to make Pia the outcast. But overall, it was a good book.

Product Description

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is an unforgettable debut — at once chilling and endearing, haunting and richly insightful — the story of one girl’s big heart and even bigger imagination, and of a world full of mystery, good, and evil.

It isn’t ten-year-old Pia’s fault that her grandmother dies in a freak accident. But tell that to the citizens of Pia’s little German hometown of Bad Münstereifel, or to the classmates who shun her. The only one who still wants to be her friend is StinkStefan, the most unpopular child in school.

But then something else captures the community’s attention: the vanishing of Katharina Linden. Katharina was last seen on a float in a parade, dressed as Snow White. Then, like a character in a Grimm’s fairy tale, she disappears. But, this being real life, she doesn’t return.

Pia and Stefan suspect that Katharina has been spirited away by the supernatural. Their investigation is inspired by the instructive—and cautionary—local legends told to them by their elderly friend Herr Schiller, tales such as that of Unshockable Hans, visited by witches in the form of cats, or of the knight whose son is doomed to hunt forever.

Then another girl disappears, and Pia is plunged into a new and unnerving place, one far away from fairy tales—and perilously close to adulthood.

Marvelously morbid, stunningly suspenseful, and exceptionally winning, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is a new coming-of-age classic, and the most accomplished fiction debut in years. (less)

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Oct 05, 2010 Dee rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 1998, Pia Kolvenbach and her family suffer a tragedy. Her German Grandmother, Oma Kristal, burns to death while lighting the advent candcles. She had just used her usual huge amount of hair spray on her hair, when she struck a match, then dropped it onto her hair-spray drenched mohair sweater. She "exploded" in front of her family.

Pia lives in Bad Munstereifil, a very small German village, where everyone loves to gossip. When she returns to school after Xmas, she is shunned by all her ex-friends...more 1998, Pia Kolvenbach and her family suffer a tragedy. Her German Grandmother, Oma Kristal, burns to death while lighting the advent candcles. She had just used her usual huge amount of hair spray on her hair, when she struck a match, then dropped it onto her hair-spray drenched mohair sweater. She "exploded" in front of her family.

Pia lives in Bad Munstereifil, a very small German village, where everyone loves to gossip. When she returns to school after Xmas, she is shunned by all her ex-friends, and bullied, as the girl has "explosions" in her house. She soon finds that the only person who will talk to her or sit next to her is StinkStephan, a boy who is even lower in status than she is. Throughout this story, Pia reluctantly allows Stephan to accompany her. He is an outcast because his motherand father are drunks. He has an older brother, Boris, who appears to be following in his family's footsteps.

The narrator of this story is the adult Pia, looking back on this year in her life. For the most part she stays with the perceptions and understandings of a 10-year-old girl, only occasionally implying that later in her life she has understood things differently.

Even before the family has the funeral, "friends" are stopping by to see if they can get information out of Pia.

We then meet the only redeeming adult in this village, Herr Schiller, who has befriended Pia, and accepts Stephan. The children visit him to hear his horror stories of ghosts and witches and worst from the village's past. He is kind, coureous, and treats them with respect. He feeds them coffee and sweets.

Herr Schiller has a brother, Herr Duster. It is obvious to the village that they hate each other. No one will tell Pia why.

The story turns into a thriller when Katharina Linden disappears at the St Martens parade in February. Even though all the adults hunt for her for several days, she is not found. It soon becomes obvious that many in the towon think that Herr Duster is the villian.

As several more little girls disappear over several months, the town becomes paranoid. Pia's parents (her British mother and German father) begin to break up over the mother's fears for her daughter. The mother wants to send Pia to her mother for the summer. She begins to ask that the family move to Britain where children are safe.

The story moves to a crises and resolution at the next Xmas. Pia's mother has decided to move back to England after Xmas. Stephan has decded that Herr Duster isthekiller, and nothing has been done to stop his attacks. Herr Schiller has hinted that the kids need to take stops.

They go into Herr Duster's house one night when they think he is out of town. They discover a secret room with an uncovered well in the floor. Pia falls into the well and discovers floating body parts in the water with her. Stephan gets Herr Duster tohelp them. AS they get Pia out of the well, someone else starts to come into the room. They chase him through a tunnel and come up in Herr Schiller's house!

Many other thrills help to end the story and wind up all the loose plot strings.

I thoroughly enjoyable plot,and great character development. Pia and Stephan are believable. Pia sees the events of the village through the eyes of a 10-year-old -- sometimes the scarey stories Herr Schiller has told them weave their way into her understanding ofthe story and her narration. The reader then has to untangle these cobwebs of fantasy to follow the plot.(less)

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Oct 05, 2010 ICPL Staff Picks added it

Shelves: candice, fiction, staff-picks-blog

I finished a book! I’ve recently gone through a rough period of trying to find a book that would hold my interest…after starting and not finishing 4 books, the 5th book was a winner! That book was The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant, and it’s a wonderful tale. Our narrator is Pia Kolvenbach, and she recounts the events that occurred when she was 10 years old, living in the small German town of Bad Münstereifel. There are strange goings-on here, most notably the sudden and complete d...more

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Aug 31, 2010 Felice rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have been wondering. Wondering why it sometimes happens that a novel will be published here as an adult novel and elsewhere as a young adult (YA for readers anywhere from 12 to 16 years old)) novel. The first time I noticed that was when the bookThe Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time came out. Here in the U.S. it was published as an adult novel and in the U.K. and Australia it was initially published as an YA novel. After it's well deserved huge success it was repacked in all 3 coun...more I have been wondering. Wondering why it sometimes happens that a novel will be published here as an adult novel and elsewhere as a young adult (YA for readers anywhere from 12 to 16 years old)) novel. The first time I noticed that was when the bookThe Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time came out. Here in the U.S. it was published as an adult novel and in the U.K. and Australia it was initially published as an YA novel. After it's well deserved huge success it was repacked in all 3 countries for both markets and why not? If there is a chance you can sell the book from two locations to separate audiences that's good business and I'm all for that but why the difference in the first place? Why wasn't it published for both age groups from the get go?

What has taken this issue from the archives of my brain file and put it back into my everyday thoughts area is the book The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant. Vanishing has recently been released here by Random House as an adult novel. Prior to this it came out in England and Australia as a YA novel. I was drawn to Vanishing because of it's absolutely stunningly beautiful cover. Upon reading the synopsis I wanted to read it because of my interest in fairy tales. I had no idea that was labeled a YA outside of the U.S. Would that knowledge have influenced my decision? Absolutely. I would have passed on it. I would not have bought it for me and I would not have looked for it in the library. I might however have purchased it for my 14 year old niece who is also a lover of fairy tales and retelling of fairy tales.

So? Is it a YA? It sure is. Did I enjoy it? I did. It was thin on plot but it had interesting characters and was well written and imaginative. Grant did a good job creating an atmosphere of darkness and menace that has been sanitized out of the traditional fairy tales we read these days. The book is about ten year old Pia Klovenbach the "potentially explosive schoolgirl". It's a cold, dank winter in Bad Munstereifel (umlauts would come in handy right now) and little girls of the town are disappearing. When the lovely Katharina Linden disappears after being Snow White in the parade, Pia and her only friend, the equally unpopular "StinkStefan", take the case. Pia has been brought up on a steady diet of haunted woods and evil spells stories and is convinced the solution to the mysteries lies in the supernatural.

There seem to be a lot of mystery solving teens around the bookshelves these days. You don't have to be Nancy Drew to know that's nothing new in YA literature, but adult books? There was Curious Incident and more recently: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Earth Hums in B Flat, etc. All three of which I thought very highly of at my current 14++ age and would have been wild about and treasured as a 14 year old. And. All three of which can be easily classified as YA books despite being identified by their publishers as adult novels.

Where the author is most successful with Vanishing is in writing about Pia's scary first steps into adulthood. Like the coming of age heroines of classic fairy tales, Pia's trials are courage testing, self sufficiency building and life changing. Grants uses these experiences not only to move the story forward but also to highlight the pettiness of Pia's school yard world and village life. Like most YA novels the adults in the book are for the larger part depicted as self absorbed, not too bright and lax in protecting their children.

My niece thought this book was great. She read it in a flash, talked about it for days afterward and wanted to pass it on to friends. Yea! I have to say that although I did like it while I was reading it, after I finished it I was left with nothing. Then when I discovered that Vanishing was selling as a YA across the oceans I felt duped. I'm not a part of that adult fraternity who are mad for YA books. I need more subtlety, more character development, more plot and writing that allows me to discover and interpret to be sated by a book.

So? Why did Random House decide to sell The Vanishing of Katharina Linden as a hardcover adult novel in the U.S.? I read it and I couldn't tell you. I'm looking forward to seeing how they sell it when it comes out in paper.
(less)

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Jun 20, 2010 Lisa added it

Shelves: fiction

In the small, quiet German town of Bad Munstereifel, news and gossip travel fast. When young girls seemingly disappear, the town is abuzz with fear and excitement, ready to point fingers at the likely suspect. To ten-year-old Pia Kolvenbach, the vanishings seem to be right out of a fairy tale. Drawn to the stories and legends surrounding her hometown, Pia sets out to solve the case along with her friend Stefan.

Despite the title of the novel, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is largely the story...more

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Apr 29, 2010 Jmm rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: highly-recommended

While Pia Kolvenbach did not wake up on December 20, 1998 as a giant cockroach, she begins her tale of social metamorphosis with the lament, “My life might have been so different, had I not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded.” With her Oma Kristel’s fiery exit at the family Christmas dinner, Pia’s existence as a normal 10-year-old in Bad Munstereifel, the quiet German town where she has spent her entire life, changes overnight. Returning to school after the Christmas break, Pia fi...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Alana rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010_04_april, reviewed, arc

With all the hype surrounding the US publication of The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, I was eagerly anticipating Helen Grant's debut. Sadly, the marketing copywriters are doing better work than the actual author and once halfway through the book, I found myself impatiently waiting for the completion of a book that was decently written but poorly conceived. The publisher would do well to stop likening it to other works because not a single comparison pans out... particularly the idea that the na...more With all the hype surrounding the US publication of The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, I was eagerly anticipating Helen Grant's debut. Sadly, the marketing copywriters are doing better work than the actual author and once halfway through the book, I found myself impatiently waiting for the completion of a book that was decently written but poorly conceived. The publisher would do well to stop likening it to other works because not a single comparison pans out... particularly the idea that the narrator here, Pia Kolvenbach, bears any resemblance whatsoever to the intelligent and delightful Flavia de Luce (the creation of Alan Bradley). If anything comes close, it's the reference to the book having the air of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales -- but the real fairy tales that are frightening and twisted, not the Disney-fied versions, thank goodness -- and yet one wishes that the real plotline had enjoyed some of the imagination that the stories suggest rather than simply lacing Pia's perspective with the stories so that she might half-wonder if fantastic things really are coming to pass. In short, everything that I read about the novel beforehand led me to expect something quite different... and probably soured my reading experience as a result. I found myself a bit annoyed in the beginning because of all this, then was more pleasantly disposed as I focused on the story... but quickly grew annoyed again when the "mystery" worked itself out to be disappointingly predictable. Grant's writing style is acceptable if not particularly noteworthy, but had it not been for the author stumbling onto the legends of this particular German town and retelling them here, I would have found the whole thing very dull indeed.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is set in the late 1990s and I started the novel feeling surprised, as nothing I had read seemed to hint at the modern time period. Also surprising was the fact that since the author's European location is hyped, I expected a translated work and was a bit thrown by the ridiculous abundance of German words purposely inserted into the English text. I feared that this would be the only consistent way to tell that the story was set in Germany and not simply any old European town with a history rich in folklore but there are enough subtle differences of to make this somewhat unfounded... and of course, there's the occasional awkward reference to Nazis and the war. There's a glossary in the back of the book, but it's rather unnecessary once one accepts the presence of the liberal scattering of German words. Needless to say, the author is English and simply moved to the Continent with her family... and actually lived in the town where the book is set, as a matter of fact, but I can't see any townspeople thanking her for putting their location on the map if it's to do with the abduction of little girls.

Bad Münstereifel is a small German hamlet, filled with people who like to gossip and since everyone knows everyone (and often knows everything about them for several generations back), few things are ever forgotten. What our ten-year-old narrator, Pia Kolvenbach, would like everyone to forget is the unfortunate incident of her grandmother's demise, which involved an Advent wreath, a match, and an abundance of hairspray. As a result, Pia is the girl whose grandmother exploded and even if it isn't true (she technically died from a heart attack as a result of the surprise of going up in flames at the dining table), it's the thing Pia will be known as to the rest of the town's inhabitants... particularly the nasty school children. After this, Pia can only claim to have one friend, the class pariah known as StinkStefan, and even having this one friend is enough to make Pia depressed if she's sunk so low as to need Stefan's companionship. (Thankfully, Stefan's unfortunate moniker is a result of his tendency to linger like a bad smell rather than from any odor emanating from his personage.) Pia herself is the daughter of a German man and an English woman, a first of two progeny from very tense marriage that is clearly heading for divorce from the get-go. (Side note: they're also terrible parents. Pia's little brother is a baby and given little attention from the narrator. Neither parent seems to make any attempt to connect with their first born and the entirety of their parental concern is expressed in forbidding Pia to go places so she can be safe in the house.)

Well, if gossip is what the town wants, then that's certainly what it gets. Katharina Linden, a little girl nearly the same age as Pia, disappears in the middle of a town holiday celebration where children dressed in costume. The little girl dressed as Snow White simply vanished without a trace and the town can find no sign of her. Immediately, the other children in town feel the repercussions as parents go into overdrive to keep their children indoors and away from whoever or whatever snatched up Katharina Linden. Pia and Stefan are about as interested as anyone in the missing girl and mention as much to their elderly friend, Herr Schiller, a kindly grandfather figure who Pia used to visit with her grandmother and now continues to visit on her own and with Stefan. The allure of Herr Schiller rests in the fact that he treats children like intelligent beings... and has a never-ending supply of stories derived from the fantastic folklore of the area. Unfortunately, Herr Schiller only seems tired when they try to discuss Katharina's disappearance -- and then the children learn that this is due to the fact that Herr Schiller once had a daughter named Gertrud who disappeared years ago in another instance where young girls went missing. The town is inclined to point its finger towards local recluse Herr Düster, Herr Schiller's estranged brother. Frau Kessel, one of the old women in the town with a reputation for knowing everything tells Pia and Stefan that in their youth, both brothers fought over the same woman and Herr Schiller won -- only to have her die of illness during the war and then have his daughter stolen and murdered by a jealous brother. Of course, this is just her suspicion, but in a town where gossip is enough to condemn you, it was only the fact that Herr Schiller did not give credit to this theory that kept Herr Düster from real blame.

Three girls went missing then -- and more girls will go missing in the present time before Pia and Stefan ultimately play a role in solving the mystery. At least the author is not unaware of the danger facing young children as they attempt to solve a crime and adults aren't always as inept as they can sometimes be depicted. Herr Schiller continues to scare the daylights out of Pia and Stefan with his wonderful stories (which are, indeed, quite interesting) and the kids try to survive school and their home lives, turning to the mystery as a thing that they can work on together. At one point in the novel, Pia is sent off to spend part of the summer with her grandmother in England, enduring cruel cousins and intense boredom, before she starts realizing that perhaps this trip wasn't just to keep her safe from whatever is snatching children in her hometown, but perhaps the move might be more permanent as her parents continue to feud.

Ultimately, while I was disappointed with the novel as a whole, there were elements of Grant's writing that I enjoyed and I hope will serve as the cornerstones of her future work so she might improve... though if she continues to write books with this mystery edge to them, I'm not sure I'll bother much as the question of who (or what?) kidnapped the little girls was easy for the reader to decipher from the beginning. I also like the fact that the story is essentially told by Pia looking back on this time of her life with a few years' worth of distance so that occasionally she might note things she hadn't realized at the time, mostly dealing with the motivations of adults that don't make sense to children. Of course, what I particularly liked about this was the fact that adult Pia didn't feel the need to necessarily spell these things out. In all, I wasn't delighted with The Vanishing of Katharina Linden but I did see some promise in Helen Grant that I hope stretches beyond the creativity of the folklore that was the truly delightful part of this novel to carry her through the next few novels that "Delacorte eagerly snapped up" according to the ARC.(less)

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Apr 17, 2010 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

My life might have been so different if I had not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded!"
This is the first line in the book and the minute you read it, you know that this book is going to touch in so many ways. I have read more books than I can count, but never have I read a first line in a book which has gripped my attention so quickly.
The story is told through the eyes of 11 year old Pia. This fact alone, is intriguing as I had expected it to be told through the eyes of an adult,...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Amanda Allen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ohhhhh, I loved this book. Devoured it, actually. It was such a charming surprise, because the story wasn't at all what I expected.

Pia is a ten-year-old living in a small town in Germany (loved all the interesting references to German culture), whose grandmother, at the start of the novel, has died in a horrific accident. Typical of elementary school meanness, she becomes the classroom pariah because of the unusual and terrible circumstances surrounding her grandmother's death. Around the same t...more

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Dec 03, 2010 Tina Hayes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: vine

Helen Grant's "The Vanishing of Katharina Linden" is a phenomenal page turner, one of those rare novels whose characters stay fresh fresh in your mind long after the book closes.

There is a serial killer looose in Bad Munstereifel, Germany, a fiend who snatches little girls, girls who never go home again. Pia is a ten-year-old, ostricized by her classmates ever since her grandmother exploded (long interesting story, trust me, it fits into the story), knows the missing girls. She and friend Stefa...more

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Nov 28, 2010 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ten year old Pia Kolvenbach’s life seems rather idyllic, living in a quaint German town with her family. That is until her Grandmother sets herself on fire (due to excessive use of hairspray and a lit match.) Rumors fly that she really exploded and Pia becomes the school pariah. She becomes friends with Stefan (or "StinkStefan" as he's tauntingly called.) Together they begin visiting Herr Schiller, a kindly neighbor who regales them with ghost stories and local folklore; perhaps my favorite part...more

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Sep 11, 2010 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Had I known that this novel was originally released in the U.K. as YA level rather than adult, I would probably have passed on it. That would have been a mistake! I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a curious and intelligent 10-year-old girl living in the Eifel region of Germany, who gets caught up in the investigation of several other young girls who have gone missing. Her first person narrative voice is witty (sometimes hilarious) and endearing enough to hold the interest of a more mature reader...more

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Dec 22, 2011 Scot rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a young adult novel that adults should enjoy too. It won an Alex Award for 2011. The narrator is Pia, a ten year old girl in a small town in Germany, Bad Münstereifel, at the end of the twentieth century. It is a ghost story with elements of horror, and begins with a kindly grandmother catching fire and going up in flames as she starts to light the annual Advent wreath candle for the first Sunday in Advent.. There is a straightforward appraisal of the situation—and its social consequence...more This is a young adult novel that adults should enjoy too. It won an Alex Award for 2011. The narrator is Pia, a ten year old girl in a small town in Germany, Bad Münstereifel, at the end of the twentieth century. It is a ghost story with elements of horror, and begins with a kindly grandmother catching fire and going up in flames as she starts to light the annual Advent wreath candle for the first Sunday in Advent.. There is a straightforward appraisal of the situation—and its social consequences for Pia in the grade school status hierarchy—that sets a pattern for emerging struggles in the novel: the desire for acceptance, the questioning of adult ways of dealing with the world, the escape of finding refuge in magical and traditional ways for making sense of the seasonal calendar and the complexity of the human experience, the tensions of dealing with parents from two different cultures (Pia’s mother is English, and doesn’t always easily fit into traditional practices and sensibilities in Bad Münstereifel).

Katharina Linden, dressed as Snow White at the Karneval street festival, disappears without a trace, and it turns out she is not the first little girl to vanish that way. Pia and the other class reject, StinkStefan, discover a history of kidnapped girls that goes back decades, and as the phenomenon seems to have returned, they unite to probe and uncover the dark secrets beneath the picturesque facades of their seemingly banal community.

This was a charming read, and particularly enjoyable for the way German phrases and references are scattered throughout the book. (For those with no sense of German language or culture, there is a helpful glossary at the end if you can’t make sense of the comments by context.) I recommend this novel highly to those Americans and Brits who have ever lived in Germany for a time, and conversely, to those Germans who have spent time living in the U.K. I felt like I was back in Germany as we worked our way through traditional seasonal celebrations. Pia has a sharp cynicism about what motivates most people balanced with a romantic fascination for lurid components of ghost stories; she certainly won me over—and the lesson to be learned at the end of the tale is very German as well.
(less)

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About Helen Grant

Helen Grant (born 1964 in London) is an English author of novels for young adults, now based in Scotland. She was educated at Dr Challoner's High School and went on to read classics at St Hugh's College, Oxford. Her first novel, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, was published by Penguin Books in April 2009.[1] It was shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. It has

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“My life might have been so different, had I not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded.” — 4 people liked it

“What was really unfair about the whole thing was that Oma Kristel hadn't so much exploded as spontaneously combusted. But Gossip is Baron Münchhausen's little sister, and never lets the truth get in the way of a good story.” — 2 people liked it

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