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Kindergarten
In a moving retelling of Hansel and Gretel, a woman is murdered during a terrorist attack, leaving her three sons in the care of their grandmother, Lilli. As the four prepare to celebrate Christmas without her, Lilli is drawn into a lonely world of memories, forced to confront the horrors of the Nazi persecution she managed to survive. After losing her entire family in the Holocaust, Lilli finds that it is this final death―that of her daughter―that allows her to reach out to the next generation and, with them, forge a unique path toward peace and reconciliation.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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About the author
Peter Rushforth
6 books7 followersPeter Scott Rushforth was an English teacher and novelist.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 29, 2022
E’ il Natale di un anno imprecisato, ma vicino al nostro.
In una cittadina del Suffolk, tre fratellini seguono in televisione la tragica notizia di un attentato terroristico in Germania, col quale un gruppo di bambini sono tenuti ostaggi in una scuola. I tre fratellini, Jo, Corrie e Matthias sono orfani di madre, morta anch’essa in un attentato terroristico, e sono temporaneamente affidati alla cure della nonna paterna Lili, superstite dell’Olocausto. Man mano che i giorni passano e che il Natale si avvicina, riaffiorano dal passato di Lili, attraverso una serie di lettere che Jo trova nella soffitta, le testimonianze di bambini ebrei che, negli anni ’40, sono stati accolti in una scuola Inghilterra…e questi pezzi del passato, tracce speranzose di un’infanzia protetta, si affiancano ai racconti fiabeschi che Lili, illustratrice di storie per ragazzi, negli anni ha scritto con grande successo, e che i fratelli ritrovano e riscoprono nel loro presente.
E’ un libro particolare: si sviluppa su più livelli narrativi, esplora temi diversi, ugualmente importanti, dall’infanzia alla sofferenza, che, uniti alla cornice natalizia e all’atmosfera fiabesca, lo rendono un piccolo gioiello letterario da esplorare.
Poco conosciuto, consigliato.
In una cittadina del Suffolk, tre fratellini seguono in televisione la tragica notizia di un attentato terroristico in Germania, col quale un gruppo di bambini sono tenuti ostaggi in una scuola. I tre fratellini, Jo, Corrie e Matthias sono orfani di madre, morta anch’essa in un attentato terroristico, e sono temporaneamente affidati alla cure della nonna paterna Lili, superstite dell’Olocausto. Man mano che i giorni passano e che il Natale si avvicina, riaffiorano dal passato di Lili, attraverso una serie di lettere che Jo trova nella soffitta, le testimonianze di bambini ebrei che, negli anni ’40, sono stati accolti in una scuola Inghilterra…e questi pezzi del passato, tracce speranzose di un’infanzia protetta, si affiancano ai racconti fiabeschi che Lili, illustratrice di storie per ragazzi, negli anni ha scritto con grande successo, e che i fratelli ritrovano e riscoprono nel loro presente.
E’ un libro particolare: si sviluppa su più livelli narrativi, esplora temi diversi, ugualmente importanti, dall’infanzia alla sofferenza, che, uniti alla cornice natalizia e all’atmosfera fiabesca, lo rendono un piccolo gioiello letterario da esplorare.
Poco conosciuto, consigliato.
October 3, 2025
(This is the second time I have posted this review because the novel is also listed under P.S. Rushforth, the name it was published under originally and under which I discovered it. It was republished 25 or more years later, along with his later novels, under Peter Rushforth. To be pendantic I own a copy of the original paperback edition of the novel not this later reprint).
"It is christmas. The frozen image on the screen is of a small girl's face, looking out into the darkness from the window of a Berlin school. She is about to be shot as a hostage if the demands of the terrorists occupying the school are not met.
"In a small Suffolk town, three boys and their German grandmother are celebrating Christmas in the traditional German way, by watching, they remember another image: the boys mother lying dead on the concourse of Rome airport, victim of an attack by the very same terrorist organisation.
"In this, his first published novel, P.S. Rushforth's apparently fragmented images of senseless cruelty reach back through to a past both real and mythical - the holocaust of the war, and the savagery of the Brothers Grimm - and build up into a strangely poignant and cohesive metaphor of eternal suffering." From the back cover of the 1981 Abacus edition.
I don't know how to express how wonderful this novel is. When it was first published in 1979 it attracted universal praise:
"The book explores areas which lie, for the most part, beyond our imagination; it carries the reader back towards Hitler's Germany and the heart of 'that dark pathless forest'. Rushforth recreates that inconceivable past and relates it to our constant experiences of loss and grief." The New Statesman
"A very impressive first novel indeed, and one by which I have been both moved and excited. It is quite short but densely packed, and offers such an experience that my own response on finishing it was to turn back to the beginning and immediately start again. It is told with remarkable and incredible artistry." Literary Review
How many ways can I praise this novel? Obviously in almost every way possible, most startlingly in its prescience. A quarter of a century before Beslan he saw the inevitability of school children being used, cynically, by terrorists, governments and the media. Twenty five years before statues were erected and the Kindertransport became a cliched trope he wrote of the desperate attempts by German and Austrian Jewish parents to find safety for their children in English schools (please see my footnote *1 below). But really none of that matters because this is an exquisite novel of incredible sensitivity and depth and says more in 150 pages then most New York Times bestsellers or Booker prize winners in hundreds more.
I only discovered this novel, and the author (of which more later), serendipitously via another paperback novel published in 1980 ('A standard of Behavior' by William Trevor) which had advertisements for other books in it. It is a salutary reminder of the difference between a physical book and an online one.
After publishing this novel P.S. Rushforth did not publish another novel for twenty five years but when he published 'Pinkerton's Sister' it was received just as ecstatically. Unfortunately he died just before his third novel 'A Dead Language' came out (check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_R... for more information on the author).
I haven't done this novel justice, I don't know how, I just can't stop thinking of it. I recommend it, and the author, without reservation.
Finally this novel was awarded the Hawthorgen prize when it was published. Although not as famous as the Booker it is probably one of the most reliable guides to books worth reading. I strongly recommend checking it out.
*1 He is particularly good in the way he portrays the nightmare bureaucracy that both Germany and Britain imposed and regularly, and arbitrarily, changed to send desperate parents scuttling back to zero on a nightmare snakes and ladders game to save their children ('Everyone Has Their Reasons' by Joseph Matthews is a particularly good portrayal of this from the point of a young Jewish refugee in France).
"It is christmas. The frozen image on the screen is of a small girl's face, looking out into the darkness from the window of a Berlin school. She is about to be shot as a hostage if the demands of the terrorists occupying the school are not met.
"In a small Suffolk town, three boys and their German grandmother are celebrating Christmas in the traditional German way, by watching, they remember another image: the boys mother lying dead on the concourse of Rome airport, victim of an attack by the very same terrorist organisation.
"In this, his first published novel, P.S. Rushforth's apparently fragmented images of senseless cruelty reach back through to a past both real and mythical - the holocaust of the war, and the savagery of the Brothers Grimm - and build up into a strangely poignant and cohesive metaphor of eternal suffering." From the back cover of the 1981 Abacus edition.
I don't know how to express how wonderful this novel is. When it was first published in 1979 it attracted universal praise:
"The book explores areas which lie, for the most part, beyond our imagination; it carries the reader back towards Hitler's Germany and the heart of 'that dark pathless forest'. Rushforth recreates that inconceivable past and relates it to our constant experiences of loss and grief." The New Statesman
"A very impressive first novel indeed, and one by which I have been both moved and excited. It is quite short but densely packed, and offers such an experience that my own response on finishing it was to turn back to the beginning and immediately start again. It is told with remarkable and incredible artistry." Literary Review
How many ways can I praise this novel? Obviously in almost every way possible, most startlingly in its prescience. A quarter of a century before Beslan he saw the inevitability of school children being used, cynically, by terrorists, governments and the media. Twenty five years before statues were erected and the Kindertransport became a cliched trope he wrote of the desperate attempts by German and Austrian Jewish parents to find safety for their children in English schools (please see my footnote *1 below). But really none of that matters because this is an exquisite novel of incredible sensitivity and depth and says more in 150 pages then most New York Times bestsellers or Booker prize winners in hundreds more.
I only discovered this novel, and the author (of which more later), serendipitously via another paperback novel published in 1980 ('A standard of Behavior' by William Trevor) which had advertisements for other books in it. It is a salutary reminder of the difference between a physical book and an online one.
After publishing this novel P.S. Rushforth did not publish another novel for twenty five years but when he published 'Pinkerton's Sister' it was received just as ecstatically. Unfortunately he died just before his third novel 'A Dead Language' came out (check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_R... for more information on the author).
I haven't done this novel justice, I don't know how, I just can't stop thinking of it. I recommend it, and the author, without reservation.
Finally this novel was awarded the Hawthorgen prize when it was published. Although not as famous as the Booker it is probably one of the most reliable guides to books worth reading. I strongly recommend checking it out.
*1 He is particularly good in the way he portrays the nightmare bureaucracy that both Germany and Britain imposed and regularly, and arbitrarily, changed to send desperate parents scuttling back to zero on a nightmare snakes and ladders game to save their children ('Everyone Has Their Reasons' by Joseph Matthews is a particularly good portrayal of this from the point of a young Jewish refugee in France).
May 25, 2008
I loved this book. Rushforth is a very sophisticated and literary author. His main character is a highly educated, cultured, intelligent, creative boy of 16. His relationship with his 12-year-old brother - particularly their intellectual banter - is precious. It may seem overdone and unrealistic for an American reader of the 21st century, but I think the boys' level of sophistication and intellect is not out of place, given their upbringing and the time period - England in the late 1970s.
The main character - Corrie, short for Cornelius - has recently discovered that his grandmother is Jewish and came to England from Germany shortly before WWII. He also discoveres that the school where his father is now headmaster was a destination for German Jewish children during the early 1930s, when German Jews were still somewhat mobile and were beginnig to experience hard times so knew they needed to do something to protect their children.
The story takes place over the course of four days - Christmas Eve to December 28. Much of it is introspective as Corrie works through the things he has learned and makes connections for himself.
The story is couched in a highly artistic atmosphere, with mention of other literature and many paintings and pieces of music. Corrie particularly loves Grimm's Fairy Tales and is in the middle of writing music for a play based on "Hansel and Gretel," which then becomes an allegory of what happened to the German Jewish children.
The novel is beautifully written and intellectually stimulating. It has provided many things to think about for several days!
The main character - Corrie, short for Cornelius - has recently discovered that his grandmother is Jewish and came to England from Germany shortly before WWII. He also discoveres that the school where his father is now headmaster was a destination for German Jewish children during the early 1930s, when German Jews were still somewhat mobile and were beginnig to experience hard times so knew they needed to do something to protect their children.
The story takes place over the course of four days - Christmas Eve to December 28. Much of it is introspective as Corrie works through the things he has learned and makes connections for himself.
The story is couched in a highly artistic atmosphere, with mention of other literature and many paintings and pieces of music. Corrie particularly loves Grimm's Fairy Tales and is in the middle of writing music for a play based on "Hansel and Gretel," which then becomes an allegory of what happened to the German Jewish children.
The novel is beautifully written and intellectually stimulating. It has provided many things to think about for several days!
January 23, 2015
I was reminded of this book today after seeing a live broadcast of the Met's Hansel and Gretel in a local theater. This production was so much darker than most, and seemed (to me at least) to be set in the 30s.
Kindergarten takes place in the 70s presumably, the children's mother having been recently killed in a terrorist attack at the Rome airport. But Rushforth weaves together the stories of these children, their grandmother (a Jew driven from Germany to England with the rise of the Nazis), the stories of children who also escaped and of those who went to the ovens, with parts of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, especially Hansel and Gretel. The grandmother had been an illustrator for some of the fairy tales in Germany, and is still a painter.
This is a dark book. The version of Hansel and Gretel retold in it ends so: "Inside the house, she picked up Gretel's clothes and hair, and added the children's clothes to all the others in the room in the corridor. She put Gretel's chain and Hansel's ring in the room with all the other jewelry, and then walked back into the kitchen, and towards the oven, drooling with anticipation. Today was going to be a feast day.
She is living there still, happy and contented, living in perfect comfort and prosperity, waiting for the children who come through the forest."
But the last thing in the book is a happier version, and Rushforth combines history, myth and art in this novel to create a feeling of hope, however, fragile, in the end.
Kindergarten won the Hawthornden Prize in England.
Kindergarten takes place in the 70s presumably, the children's mother having been recently killed in a terrorist attack at the Rome airport. But Rushforth weaves together the stories of these children, their grandmother (a Jew driven from Germany to England with the rise of the Nazis), the stories of children who also escaped and of those who went to the ovens, with parts of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, especially Hansel and Gretel. The grandmother had been an illustrator for some of the fairy tales in Germany, and is still a painter.
This is a dark book. The version of Hansel and Gretel retold in it ends so: "Inside the house, she picked up Gretel's clothes and hair, and added the children's clothes to all the others in the room in the corridor. She put Gretel's chain and Hansel's ring in the room with all the other jewelry, and then walked back into the kitchen, and towards the oven, drooling with anticipation. Today was going to be a feast day.
She is living there still, happy and contented, living in perfect comfort and prosperity, waiting for the children who come through the forest."
But the last thing in the book is a happier version, and Rushforth combines history, myth and art in this novel to create a feeling of hope, however, fragile, in the end.
Kindergarten won the Hawthornden Prize in England.
June 7, 2010
What a surprisingly powerful novel! I really enjoyed it, but I must admit that I was left wanting more at the end. It is a story told in snippets, in gasping breaths almost. Some parts were more emotional than others, I never actually cried, just felt on the verge of tears several times. It was a good book, but i wanted to hear more of Lilli's story. And more of their mother's. I think this would be a good book for a book club because of the many layers and the fairy tale aspect as well. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest of books to find. All in all, I liked it a lot!
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September 29, 2012The book description does not do justice to this incredible novel. This is really a coming of age tale for the protagonist, the oldest of three brothers. Their mother died in a terrorist bombing on Easter, and now it is Christmas, the first Christmas without Mum. And Dad has traveled to a conference in America, leaving the boys and their grandmother to celebrate the holidays amid their loss. The family lives on the campus of a private school, of which the father is headmaster, and the son has recently discovered a room filled with old letters dating back to the Nazi rise to power: letters from German Jews begging the school to admit and protect their children. Meanwhile, a new group of terrorists has taken another school captive, holding the children and teachers hostage. And amidst all this, it turns out that Grandmum is a refugee from the Nazi era, before which she was a major German (Jewish) artist.
So Rushforth layers horror upon horror, uniting past and present, all coming to a head at this season of "peace on earth, goodwill toward men." Woven throughout the novel is a telling and retelling of "Hansel and Gretel," with the witch's oven more and more resembling the death ovens of the concentration camps.
A man not yet a man must learn to face life's horrors without succumbing to despair. And he must come to see the place of his personal loss within the scope of world history. Most importantly, he learns the precious joys of love, and the power of love to overcome. This last statement may sound corny and trite, but in Rushforth's hands, the love is as real as the ever-present evil, and goodness does overcome evil. A tender, disturbing, incredible book.
So Rushforth layers horror upon horror, uniting past and present, all coming to a head at this season of "peace on earth, goodwill toward men." Woven throughout the novel is a telling and retelling of "Hansel and Gretel," with the witch's oven more and more resembling the death ovens of the concentration camps.
A man not yet a man must learn to face life's horrors without succumbing to despair. And he must come to see the place of his personal loss within the scope of world history. Most importantly, he learns the precious joys of love, and the power of love to overcome. This last statement may sound corny and trite, but in Rushforth's hands, the love is as real as the ever-present evil, and goodness does overcome evil. A tender, disturbing, incredible book.
April 13, 2024
This book never ceased to surprise me with how thoughtful, sensitive, intelligent, and artful it was. The characters are beautifully and sensitively rendered, the ideas are complex and original, and the narrative is elegant in it’s simple profundity. Literally had no idea how this book would be when I picked it up while browsing, and I was really delightfully surprised. Recommend!!!!
August 23, 2012
An excellent book that focuses largely on dealing with violence of terrorism across ages and its victims.
July 26, 2023
Non è un libro facile da leggere. Non scorre veloce e sicuro. Fa salti logici e tante citazioni che obbligano a volte a tornare indietro a rileggere le frasi nella certezza di essersi perso il filo. Eppure sono indispensabili a capire i legami familiari e fanno da sfondo alla vera storia di questa famiglia di lontana origine ebrea originatasi dalla nonna Lilli che nel 1933 è scappata dalla Germania nazista. Al lettore il compito di unire i puntini e assaporare, prima col cuore, questa intensa ed evocativa storia, che si svela solo alla fine del libro.
February 27, 2025
i didn't really understand most of this book. felt like there was very little explanation for who each character was, where we were, etc. and i struggled to understand who was talking because all of the children had the same voice and tone. the last 10 pages of the book were the most interesting and i think they should have appeared 100 pages sooner. i can't recommend this book
October 6, 2017
A boy grieving hist mother's untimely death by terrorists comes across letters about sending jewish children to a school in England during WWII.
August 21, 2025
Moving story of loss across generations - finds parallels between Hansel and Gretel and the Holocaust, which was interesting.
May 16, 2013
Confusing yet enjoyable
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June 3, 2008Retelling of Hansel and Gretel.
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