The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Louise Murphy
number of voters: 7
percentage of voters who finished the book: 100%
highest rating: 9
lowest rating: 6
average rating: 7.47
number of attendees who would read this book again: 4
number of attendees who would recommend this book (albeit not to everyone): 4
Once upon a time, an author set out to write a book about reality based on a fairy tale. The author, Louise Murphy, chose the story of Hansel and Gretel and retold it in Nazi-occupied Poland. The result is haunting.
The Brothers Grimm fairy tale is particularly grim and, as such, an apt setting for the horrors of war, particularly World War II. The author does an excellent job of recasting each of the fairy tale characters into believable real-life personalities. She also succeeds in interweaving well-known details of the fairy tale into key plot points in her allegory.
There were moments that moved us… young love that blossoms even amid atrocities… a priest who finds redemption in the unlikeliest of ways… the extremes to which parents will go to protect their children…
The few missteps that the author makes, in our humble opinions, do not overshadow the overall quality of the book. Maybe the ending was a little “hokey,” but it did closely follow the original story’s ending. And perhaps some of the details seemed “over the top,” but it was, after all, a book based on a fairy tale. All in all, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel achieves its goal of riveting, not-quite-historical fiction as seen through the eyes of two wide-eyed children.
And as the Brothers Grimm ended their tale, so shall I end mine:
“Now all their troubles were over, and they lived together in utmost joy.
My tale is done. See the mouse run. Catch it, whoever can, and then you can make a great big cap out of its fur.”
