The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Registered by grubsneerg of Greensburg, Pennsylvania USA on 1/31/2010
This book is in a Controlled Release!
This book is in a Controlled Release!
1 journaler for this copy...
Received via amazon.com from my Secret Santa, butterfly-noir. Thank you for fulfilling my wish!
I love the idea of using a classic fairy tale as a framework for a new story set in a different time and place like Gregory Maguire's "Mirror Mirror" (Snow White) or the movie "Ever After" (Cinderella). Set in Poland during the waning years of World War II, "The True Story of Hansel and Gretel" was even more horrifying than the original Grimm fairy tale.
All the elements of the original fairy tale are intact—a father and stepmother abandon their children in the woods, the children leave a trail of breadcrumbs as they move deeper into the forest and come upon the house of a witch, who invites them in and eventually puts them in her oven—but Louise Murphy gives them a clever twist. Instead of the witch's house being a danger, it is a safe haven. Instead of the evil stepmother, we have one who sacrifices everything to give Hansel and Gretel the best chance of survival.
The true horror of the story is revealed in rural Poland's plight during the Nazi occupation of World War II. The author did a tremendous amount of research to bring her characters and settings to life. The contrast between Magda's fragile bubble of safety in the fairy-tale-like, pristine forest and the brutal reality of living in an occupied village was very well done. It is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching story that needs to be told and retold until we finally learn to forsake war and all its atrocities.
All the elements of the original fairy tale are intact—a father and stepmother abandon their children in the woods, the children leave a trail of breadcrumbs as they move deeper into the forest and come upon the house of a witch, who invites them in and eventually puts them in her oven—but Louise Murphy gives them a clever twist. Instead of the witch's house being a danger, it is a safe haven. Instead of the evil stepmother, we have one who sacrifices everything to give Hansel and Gretel the best chance of survival.
The true horror of the story is revealed in rural Poland's plight during the Nazi occupation of World War II. The author did a tremendous amount of research to bring her characters and settings to life. The contrast between Magda's fragile bubble of safety in the fairy-tale-like, pristine forest and the brutal reality of living in an occupied village was very well done. It is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching story that needs to be told and retold until we finally learn to forsake war and all its atrocities.
Passing along to Sister No. 3 to read (and probably return, rather than release).
