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April's review

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
by Louise Murphy

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216408.The_True_Story_of_Hansel_and_Gretel?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The True Story of Hansel and Gretel" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172783477m/216408.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216408.The_True_Story_of_Hansel_and_Gretel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The True Story of Hansel and Gretel</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/126839.Louise_Murphy">Louise Murphy</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21523987?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 5 of 5 stars To date, this is the best retelling of a fairy tale that I have ever read, and I've read a couple of very good ones. The author takes the story of Hansel and Gretel and sets it against the events of World War II and the Holocaust, and it's just brilliantly done.
 
 It starts very briefly with the witch, who is not really a witch. She's a woman of Gypsy blood, but the villagers call her a witch. Then we're introduced to Hansel and Gretel, whose names aren't really Hansel and Gretel. They are two Jewish children fleeing the Nazis with their father and their stepmother, and they're left in the dark forest and renamed Hansel and Gretel by their stepmother in order to save their lives. The forest is an actual forest in Poland, very old, dark, deep, and mysterious. The witch's cottage is actually a hut, and inside is a baker's stove and oven.
 
 The biggest difference between the fairy tale and this novel is that the witch has no ill intentions toward the children whatsoever. She takes them in, cares for them, and protects them in whatever ways she can, in such a way that you could almost forget the original tale and how it went. Almost.
 
 There are scenes that will recall you to the events in the fairy tale in an almost revelatory and surprising way. I've actually smiled a few times to see the author's rendition of a familiar story, despite the horrors described.
 
 And yes, there are horrors. A lot of them.
 
 Hansel and Gretel, the fairy tale, is in itself a rather horrific tale, starting with the parent's abandonment, continuing with the witch's terrorizing the children, and ending with the witch's fiery fate. This novel is no different and in fact might even be more horrific because the deeds done in the book are based on reality.
 
 But, like the fairy tale, the story is told in such a matter-of-fact and almost detached sort of way that it seems unreal, like ... well ... a fairy tale. The author uses a omniscient point of view with regular head hopping, which actually works incredibly well because the reader isn't too close to any one character and no one character can see most or all of what happens in the book. Scenes are described almost with no emotion whatsoever, which somehow makes them even more powerfully evocative.
 
 In fact, I found some chapters very difficult to read because of the emotions they wrung from me, like the chapter in which a character named Telek must do his duty to save some of the villagers' children from being taken away. I had to grip my head and rock myself for comfort as I read.
 
 I would rather not write much more about the book as I'd like people to discover the story themselves, so I'll end with this:
 
 This book is a definite keeper.
 
 Finished reading May 10, 2008.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/104600?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

April's review
rating:

To date, this is the best retelling of a fairy tale that I have ever read, and I've read a couple of very good ones. The author takes the story of Hansel and Gretel and sets it against the events of World War II and the Holocaust, and it's just brilliantly done.

It starts very briefly with the witch, who is not really a witch. She's a woman of Gypsy blood, but the villagers call her a witch. Then we're introduced to Hansel and Gretel, whose names aren't really Hansel and Gretel. They are two Jewish children fleeing the Nazis with their father and their stepmother, and they're left in the dark forest and renamed Hansel and Gretel by their stepmother in order to save their lives. The forest is an actual forest in Poland, very old, dark, deep, and mysterious. The witch's cottage is actually a hut, and inside is a baker's stove and oven.

The biggest difference between the fairy tale and this novel is that the witch has no ill intentions toward the children whatsoever. She takes them ...more To date, this is the best retelling of a fairy tale that I have ever read, and I've read a couple of very good ones. The author takes the story of Hansel and Gretel and sets it against the events of World War II and the Holocaust, and it's just brilliantly done.

It starts very briefly with the witch, who is not really a witch. She's a woman of Gypsy blood, but the villagers call her a witch. Then we're introduced to Hansel and Gretel, whose names aren't really Hansel and Gretel. They are two Jewish children fleeing the Nazis with their father and their stepmother, and they're left in the dark forest and renamed Hansel and Gretel by their stepmother in order to save their lives. The forest is an actual forest in Poland, very old, dark, deep, and mysterious. The witch's cottage is actually a hut, and inside is a baker's stove and oven.

The biggest difference between the fairy tale and this novel is that the witch has no ill intentions toward the children whatsoever. She takes them in, cares for them, and protects them in whatever ways she can, in such a way that you could almost forget the original tale and how it went. Almost.

There are scenes that will recall you to the events in the fairy tale in an almost revelatory and surprising way. I've actually smiled a few times to see the author's rendition of a familiar story, despite the horrors described.

And yes, there are horrors. A lot of them.

Hansel and Gretel, the fairy tale, is in itself a rather horrific tale, starting with the parent's abandonment, continuing with the witch's terrorizing the children, and ending with the witch's fiery fate. This novel is no different and in fact might even be more horrific because the deeds done in the book are based on reality.

But, like the fairy tale, the story is told in such a matter-of-fact and almost detached sort of way that it seems unreal, like ... well ... a fairy tale. The author uses a omniscient point of view with regular head hopping, which actually works incredibly well because the reader isn't too close to any one character and no one character can see most or all of what happens in the book. Scenes are described almost with no emotion whatsoever, which somehow makes them even more powerfully evocative.

In fact, I found some chapters very difficult to read because of the emotions they wrung from me, like the chapter in which a character named Telek must do his duty to save some of the villagers' children from being taken away. I had to grip my head and rock myself for comfort as I read.

I would rather not write much more about the book as I'd like people to discover the story themselves, so I'll end with this:

This book is a definite keeper.

Finished reading May 10, 2008....less

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message 1: by Minn

05/12/2008 07:48AM

I knew you'd like it. :)