The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival [Paperback]

Louise Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2003

In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel." They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers. Magda is determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for the children.

Combining classic themes of fairy tales and war literature, this haunting novel of journey and survival, of redemption and memory, powerfully depicts how war is experienced by families and especially by children, and tells a resonant, riveting story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A provocative transformation of the classic fairy tale into a haunting survival story set in Poland during WWII, Murphy's second novel (after The Sea Within) is darkly enchanting. Two Jewish children, a girl of 11 and her seven-year-old brother, are left to wander the woods after their father and stepmother are forced to abandon them, frantically begging them never to say their Jewish names, but to identify themselves as Hansel and Gretel. In an imaginative reversal of the original tale, they encounter a small woman named Magda, known as a "witch" by villagers, who risks her life in harboring them. The story alternates between the children's nightmarish adventures, and their parents' struggle for survival and hope for a safe reunion. This mirror image of the fairy tale is deliberately disorienting, as Murphy describes the horrors of the outside world compared with the haven inside Magda's hut, and the fear and anguish of the other people who conspire to save the children and protect their own families, too. The na‹ve siblings are only half-conscious of much of this, though they are perfectly aware of their peril should they be discovered. The graphic details-the physical symptoms of near starvation, the infestations of lice, the effects of bitter cold-make it plain that this is the grimmest kind of fable. Eventually, the Nazis indulge in wholesale slaughter, and the children barely survive, hiding and on the run. No reader who picks up this inspiring novel will put it down until the final pages, in which redemption is not a fairy tale ending but a heartening message of hope.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The stepmother persuades the father to abandon the children in the forest, where they find shelter in the cottage of a witch, who locks them in a cage. It's the scariest of all fairy tales, and it's retold here with gripping realism as a Holocaust novel set in Poland near the end of World War II. Murphy brings the genocide history up close through the horrifying daily experience of 11-year-old Jewish Gretel and her younger brother, who save each other from the worst with the help of a few brave villagers. The Grimms' story is always there like a dark shadow intensifying the drama as the searing narrative transforms the old archetypes. The stepmother and the Romani witch are quiet heroes who sacrifice themselves to save the children, while their father is with the partisan army, desperate to find his family. The children may follow the trail home in the end, but the gruesome reality in the village and the forest prevents any sentimental uplift. The witch does land up in the oven, in a concentration camp. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 297 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); First Penguin edition (July 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142003077
• ISBN-13: 978-0142003077
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harsh, revealing take on the Holocaust, September 14, 2005

By 

Tamela Mccann "taminator40" (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival (Paperback)

This book is quite well-written, with believable characters and a strong, rich plot that flows well. Hansel and Gretel, unwillingly abandoned by their father and stepmother into the Polish forest, find themselves taken in by Magda, the village "witch". They must protect their Jewishness at all costs, but they also must just survive against the horrors of the Nazi SS. This book is not for the faint of heart by any means; Murphy spares no punches with the violence and the realities of Poland at the time. A few of the characters, such as the Oberfuhrer, seem over the top, and motivations aren't always well-defined. While not the first writer to weave a Holocaust story around a fairy tale, Murphy does it well and leaves an impression I'm sure I won't soon forget. But for the minor flaws already mentioned, this one would rate a solid 5 stars. Recommended reading, but don't expect a light tale. Be prepared to have your emotions rubbed raw.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'd give it a 4.5 if I could..., June 3, 2005

By 

R. Carey (Redondo Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival (Paperback)

I picked up this one at my local Borders. At first I was quite captured by the cover, and then when I read the back, I had to have it. Anything to do with fairytales captures my eye.

The book starts off with Hansel and Gretel (renamed to hide their 'Jewishness') being left to fend for themselves in a Poland forest. Their father and stepmother took them there to save them from the Nazis, which were close on their tale. Although Hansel and Gretel are only children, they are incredibely smart and strong willed. Gretel leads the way with her younger brother in tote, as they brave the forest in search of someone to take them in. After a few days of this, this find a little cottage at the edge of a small village. The cottage is inhabited by Magda, "the witch." Although a bit frightening at first, Magda is really harmless and in the end, she is willing to risk everything to save Hansel and Gretel from the Germans. This is a new twist on the classic fairytale. It includes many of the original elements of the 'real' story, such as the trail of bread crumbs and the oven. There are also, of course, many new characters who were not in the fairytale. This includes the beautiful Nelka (Magda's neice), and Telek, the outsider. Both characters play a pivotal role in the lives of Hansel and Gretel, and help to shape their characters. Nelka and Telek also bring a bit of romance into the novel, to lighten up things a bit. I would also have to say that Telek is my favorite character.

I really really enjoyed this book. This is not for the light-hearted. It features some truly horrific events that occur. I knew when I picked up the book, it was based on the WWII era, but for some reason I did not expect to read some of the things I read. This includes gas chambers and mutilation of children. But overall, I really thought this was a well written book. I have this book a 4.5 because I don't know if I could read it again. Although I really liked it, I don't know if I'd like to ever make it a reread. But I do recommend this book to everyone, but historical fiction fans in particular, as well as people interested in the WWII era, and anyone who loves fairytales.

Rating: 4.5/5

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, though familiar, July 20, 2004

By 

Terri Windling (Devon, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival (Paperback)

This is a beautifully written book, and I recommend it highly to all fans of literary fairy tale retellings. My only quibble is with the reviews more than with the book, which fail to mention that Murphy's idea is not an original one. This book follows in the footsteps of Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (1992) which uses the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale to tell a story about War World II Holocaust victims in Poland, and Lisa Goldstein's story "Breadcrumbs and Stones" (in the anthology Snow White, Blood Red, 1993) which uses the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale (as Murphy does here) to tell a story about the Holocaust. Also, there's Peter Rushford's novel Kindergarten, now sadly out of print, which uses a number of Grimms fairy tales to tell a story not only about the Holocaust but also about more recent acts of European terrorism. I welcome Murphy's book into this tradition -- it's a fine addition and it's always good to see what new writers can do with fairy tales. But I do believe the reviewers are lax here not to review this book in its proper context.