Excellent well written story, couldn't put it down, easy to read in 2 sittings. Felt like I was there. Page turner.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
A Novel of War and Survival
by Louise Murphy
Penguin, 2003.pp.320
ISBN #0142003077

In this fractured fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, it is not difficult to notice the underlying original tale as the story unfolds. The original tale is scary, but The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is terrifying. The characters of the witch and stepmother, pulled from the strong females in the original are anything but evil. In this story the evil “witch” is portrayed by the Oberfurher one of the feared SS who has piercing eyes of ice and a heart of impenetrable granite. There is no gingerbread house in this story, but the Oberfurher will lure children with candy, in the hopes of a careless slip-up.

As the story unfolds, Hansel and Gretel are pushed out into the woods by their stepmother and father, a dire decision, but necessary to survive. The two young children drift without direction, sprinkling breadcrumbs hoping their parents will be able to find them later.

They stumble upon a cottage in the woods where Magda, the village witch lives. She is a strange old woman and although reluctant at first, she acquiesces and agrees to help the children. Magda must present the two for inspection. She creates false papers, altered photographs and must change the color of Hansel’s hair. With daring courage, knowing she and the children could be shot if her subterfuge is detected she presents the children for review.

Murphy’s strength is in her passionate writing that is edgy and realistic. With tension and suspense she chillingly tells about a rape, the psychopathic behavior of the Oberfurer and desperate measures the villages take to save their children.

The reading is slow at first, then suddenly as details unfold you will be flipping furiously to the next page. Set in two locations, the story eventually merges together and quickly like a force in motion builds to a breathtaking end.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is a story of hope and survival, where despite the harshness of war, the love and memories that bond families together can never be stolen.

On a personal note: When I finished this book, I held it in my hand, my body stunned. I sat for some time in my cozy chair savoring the moment, unable to move but reflecting on the message and this wonderful book.

Wisteria Leigh ( )

This book, as its title suggests, was inspired by the German fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel," and similar to its namesake, the story is grim, full of dread, and threaded through with bits of hope. The story begins with a Jewish family fleeing the Nazis in the Polish woods. In the hopes of saving the two children, the father and stepmother send them into the forest to hide, giving them new German names (Hansel and Gretel) instead of their Jewish ones. The parents then try to draw the Nazis away from the children, leaving them alone in the forest. There is still a witch, Magda the Gypsy, who takes the children in and cares for them, although the specifics of the story are often quite different than the familiar fairy tale. It was a difficult story for me to get through at times, mainly because it doesn't disguise or sugar-coat any of the atrocities committed during this time. Nevertheless, I stuck with the story and am so glad I did. Although I spent a great amount of the book with a pit in my stomach, I ended up with a great admiration for the human race's ability to survive, and with the great courage, generosity, and love that a few of us sometimes show. Not an easy, gentle read, but one I would recommend anyway. ( )

I really enjoyed this book

This was a chilling book that took a few of the features of the familiar fairy tale and wove them into an incredible story of two Polish children hiding from the Nazis during the end of WWII. By no means a book for children, in this retelling, the author does not mince words and writes extremely graphic scenes depicting the cruelty of the Nazi officials. Nonetheless, the book manages to convey hope. All of the characters are complex and carefully drawn, and the book manages to follow the stories of the parents who have left their children in the woods, the family of the "witch" who takes in the children, and, of course, the children themselves. The competing stories make the book a page-turner. ( )