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Publication
New York : Penguin Books
Description
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, Louise Murphy's haunting novel of journey and survival, of redemption and memory, powerfully depicts how war is experienced by families and especially by children. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel tells a resonant, riveting story.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member silenceiseverything
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel was just one of those books that I had assumed I would love. It's set in World War II and those books intrigue me. And it's a retelling of one of the creepiest fairy tales ever, Hansel and Gretel. So, it should have been a win-win, right? Well, it sort of wasn't.
One of the issues that I had with The True Story of Hansel and Gretel was how the parallels between the Grimms' story and this one were few and far between. In fact, if the book hadn't been called The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, I doubt I would have put two and two together (well that and the fact that the kids sort of adopted the names Hansel and Gretel). I'm spoiled in that the retellings I have read have all had a clear connection to the fairy tales they have originated from. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel...not so much.
However, I think the main reason that I didn't love The True Story of Hansel and Gretel was because I didn't feel that emotional tug as much as I usually do when reading books about WWII. That's not to say that the book wasn't sad because it without a doubt was, but I just wasn't bawling my eyes out the way I usually do when reading a book about this war. I also couldn't help comparing my emotional reaction from this book to the emotional reaction I had when reading The Book Thief. While I thought that The Book Thief was teeny bit overhyped, I'd be lying if I didn't say that the book was definitely more heartbreaking than The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, yet the latter was more gruesome.
Besides that, I did like The True Story of Hansel and Gretel. I thought Magda was a great character and I loved the relationship between Hansel and Gretel. It was definitely a sweet yet sad story. It's just not one that I found highly memorable when compared to other WWII books.
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Don't get me wrong, I liked it enough, but I just didn't love it the way I expected to. One of the issues that I had with The True Story of Hansel and Gretel was how the parallels between the Grimms' story and this one were few and far between. In fact, if the book hadn't been called The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, I doubt I would have put two and two together (well that and the fact that the kids sort of adopted the names Hansel and Gretel). I'm spoiled in that the retellings I have read have all had a clear connection to the fairy tales they have originated from. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel...not so much.
However, I think the main reason that I didn't love The True Story of Hansel and Gretel was because I didn't feel that emotional tug as much as I usually do when reading books about WWII. That's not to say that the book wasn't sad because it without a doubt was, but I just wasn't bawling my eyes out the way I usually do when reading a book about this war. I also couldn't help comparing my emotional reaction from this book to the emotional reaction I had when reading The Book Thief. While I thought that The Book Thief was teeny bit overhyped, I'd be lying if I didn't say that the book was definitely more heartbreaking than The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, yet the latter was more gruesome.
Besides that, I did like The True Story of Hansel and Gretel. I thought Magda was a great character and I loved the relationship between Hansel and Gretel. It was definitely a sweet yet sad story. It's just not one that I found highly memorable when compared to other WWII books.
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LibraryThing member WisteriaLeigh
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
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
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
Show More
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
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LibraryThing member Cariola
I feel a bit guilty in not giving a higher rating to The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, just because it is a story about the horrors of the Nazi regime and the suffering of children, and because it attempts to do something original--namely, mingling the classic fairy tale with two Jewish
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children's struggle for survival in war-torn Poland. While there is much to admire here, at times I felt let down by the writing itself, and some of the situations and characters in the novel were just too predictable: the psychotic SS officer, the weasly mayor, etc. On the other hand, Murphy brings the magic of Bialoweiza Forest to life--a magical place inhabited by wild ponies and bison and primeval trees. And she create some wonderful characters in Magda (the witsh), her brother Piotr (a priest), her grandniece Nelka, and Nelka's lover, Telek. She also focuses on some of the war's victims and heroes that have been more or less forgotten, including the Poles, who suffered under both the Nazi and Russian occupations; the Jews who survived the holocaust by living in the forest; and the partisans who resisted the Nazis with guerilla warfare tactics and punished collaborators. And in many ways, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is a powerful tale of love, hope, and redemption. As you can see, my feelings about the book are mixed. While I certainly would encourage anyone interested to give it a go, I can only give it 3/5 stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookmagic
The fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel is transformed into a powerful tale during WWII in Poland. Two children are dropped off into the woods by their father and step-mother to find safety with a farmer and told never to use their Jewish names but to be known only as Hansel and Gretel. They are turned
Further into the forest, the father and step-mother discover a band of Russians and the novel moves between these two stories.
my review:
This story was moving and tragic, hopeful and devastating. I loved how the author used all the elements of the original fairy tale into this retold Holocaust story. It was very emotional to read at times, but well worth it. When the father goes back to look for the children the first time:
And maybe the children were moving in the same direction. Their bodies were not lying in the road. They were hiding. It was cold but the girl was smart. She'd find a farm or a village. She'd find away to get food.
" I never said their names" he said aloud. " I never did." And it seemed like good luck to him...
He told himself this as he moved into the forest, deeper and deeper, farther from the road and the dead man. He kept saying it over and over as he walked and jogged onward, and only his eyes betrayed him and leaked bitter water onto his face as he fled.
The author manages to convey the horror of the Holocaust within the setting of this small village. It was a well-written and beautifully portrayed powerful story.
my rating 5+/5
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away by the farmer but taken in by Magda, who lives in a smal hut on the outskirts of a village. She is called a witch by the villagers but helps the children get fake papers so they will not be mistaken for Jews and killed.Further into the forest, the father and step-mother discover a band of Russians and the novel moves between these two stories.
my review:
This story was moving and tragic, hopeful and devastating. I loved how the author used all the elements of the original fairy tale into this retold Holocaust story. It was very emotional to read at times, but well worth it. When the father goes back to look for the children the first time:
And maybe the children were moving in the same direction. Their bodies were not lying in the road. They were hiding. It was cold but the girl was smart. She'd find a farm or a village. She'd find away to get food.
" I never said their names" he said aloud. " I never did." And it seemed like good luck to him...
He told himself this as he moved into the forest, deeper and deeper, farther from the road and the dead man. He kept saying it over and over as he walked and jogged onward, and only his eyes betrayed him and leaked bitter water onto his face as he fled.
The author manages to convey the horror of the Holocaust within the setting of this small village. It was a well-written and beautifully portrayed powerful story.
my rating 5+/5
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LibraryThing member MacsTomes
Very dark, yet engrossing tale of a Polish village occupied by Nazis in war time. Humanity at its most despical vs. most charitable. The incredible will to live.
LibraryThing member msjoanna
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member yourotherleft
This reworking of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale is perfectly rendered into a Holocaust story. It is the story of two children whose names are changed to Hansel and Gretel to keep from revealing their Jewish identities. With their new names and identities, Hansel and Gretel are sheltered by an
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old 'witch' somewhere in Poland. Murphy brings the Holocaust to life, perfectly capturing tense moments in which the children's identities might be discovered leading to the demise of the whole village and revealing the moments of joy and the making of difficult but necessary decisions that enabled one set of ordinary people to survive a terrible time in history. Murphy manages to create an entire village full of characters and incorporate them all into the story in a way that flows naturally and gives the reader the impression of being intimately acquainted with the village and the people in it. Her narrative which includes various sub-plots about several different villagers, but focuses mostly on the two children, is held together by moments that have the power to break your heart and take your breath away. The end result is a novel that is both haunting and unforgettable. Show Less
LibraryThing member mbergman
Another story about Jewish refugess trying to survive the last year of WWII, this time in Poland. A very good, very moving book.
LibraryThing member jakesam
I really enjoyed this book
LibraryThing member librarymeg
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member tdfangirl
I got about three fifths of the way through this book in a marathon reading session. Big mistake.It is extremely well written, but it's the kind of book I'd rather space out over a couple of weeks instead of dashing to finish it less than a week for class. It's the most emotionally difficult book
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I've ever tried to read. I do plan on finishing it, but at a much slower pace with plenty of brain decompression breaks in the middle. I read about seventy pages last night, and ended up having nightmares. Holocaust novels are not easy to read anyway, but this one is like a punch in the gut. Show Less
LibraryThing member bnbookgirl
Part fairy tale, part war story. Murhpy reimagines Hansel and Gretel. Two orphans start out on a journey toward a new life and they are guided by Magda, a witch, who lives in a hut in the forest. This novel is about the power and need for love in tough times. It is also a novel about two children,
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who in the face of great strife, never give up. It could also be called a coming-of-age story. I think that fact that the book parallels the fairy tale is wonderful. Show Less
LibraryThing member SFCC
The fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel is transformed into a powerful tale during WWII in Poland.
LibraryThing member ken1952
Murphy turns the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale on its head in this intriguing novel of war torn Poland. Two abandoned children arrive in a small village and are taken in by a "witch". Murphy's tale is highly readible, but very violent. A good choice for reading groups.
LibraryThing member NancyJak
Story of two Jewish children left by the edge of the woods by their father and stepmother as they are running away from the Nazis. They're taken in by a old woman who lives in the woods with a big oven whom the village people call a witch. I couldn't put it down.
LibraryThing member jtho
Wonderful - I couldn't put it down. When fleeing the Nazis, Father and Step-mother release their children into the woods to hide and hopefully find food and shelter. Step-mother re-names them Hansel and Gretel, Polish names to keep them safe. The children walk the woods and come to the house of a
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witch, and the story follows them, the witch's family and the town, as well as the parents as they join the resistance. Every character is well-developed and fascinating, the story is fast-paced and suspenseful (and occasionally violent) and the writing is great too. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bibliofemmes
Hansel and Gretel generated great discussion in our meeting. Not only in the parallels to the fairytale, but in the historical aspects that have not had much exposure in WWII literature. This is a well crafted story with well-developed characters and detailed setting.cp
LibraryThing member gdill
How could anyone imaginatively add more grotesque and unspeakable horrors to an already tragic event in world history? Perhaps the deranged mind of Louise Murphy. And then deceptively entitle the book, "The True Story of Hansel and Gretel" when in fact there is nothing TRUE about it, save perhaps
It's one thing to read true life accounts of this most tragic event in the 20th century but to add fictional and morbid events to this for the pure enjoyment of entertainment is a bit peculiar to me.
I read through about half of the book before deciding that I could no longer stomach the morbid and violent gibberish contrived by the author.
Save your money. DON'T buy this book. Unless of course you are entertained by things like the raping of a young girl, purposeful and violent disfiguring of young innocent children and babies, and twisted accounts of erotic blood transfusions.
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the setting of the book.It's one thing to read true life accounts of this most tragic event in the 20th century but to add fictional and morbid events to this for the pure enjoyment of entertainment is a bit peculiar to me.
I read through about half of the book before deciding that I could no longer stomach the morbid and violent gibberish contrived by the author.
Save your money. DON'T buy this book. Unless of course you are entertained by things like the raping of a young girl, purposeful and violent disfiguring of young innocent children and babies, and twisted accounts of erotic blood transfusions.
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LibraryThing member KidSisyphus
The fairy tale propelled by the horrible inertia of modernity. The witch's oven of yore is rendered quaint in the shadow of the crematoria. I couldn't put it down.
LibraryThing member omphalos02
Amazing and evocative story of 2 children in Poland during the holocaust. Disturbing and compelling in its characterizations and its emotional scope, with the "Hansel & Gretel" fairytale as a starting point and mirror of events.
LibraryThing member rayneofdarkness
I always have a soft spot for Holocaust stories being probably the worst thing ever a Gypsy Jew but I enjoyed the premise of the story. It does have dark moments but the Holocaust wasn't a fairy tale it brings a fairy tale where things always have happy endings with the harsh reality of what
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occurred during a great travesty in history. While I can't say anyone would like a story of raping a young girl, murder of people, dis-figuration of children the story was good and horrible all in one book. Not a story everyone will love but a interesting tale. Show Less
LibraryThing member tercat
This book is beautifully written. Louise Murphy is a poet, and it shows. I didn't get hung up on the fact that she couches her story in a retelling of Hansel and Gretel, though I do think it works. As with most books, it helps to be in the right frame of mind when you read this. I was slightly less
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engaged for the first half of the book, and then something clicked and I couldn't put it down. More people should read this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member dms02
I thought the author did a clever job of interweaving her story with the classic fairy tale.
LibraryThing member KarenHerndon
Excellent quick turn on fairy tale told superimposed over a background of the survival of two young Jewish children in Poland during WW II.
LibraryThing member LoriFox
I love Fairytales and stories that contain magic. While this book has both, it also harbors darkness and depictions of the evil that turn the hearts of mankind black. I enjoyed this modern retelling of the “Handsel and Gretel” fairytale even though at times it was hard to read. It was graphic
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and dark around the edges, yet ultimately, framed by the witch’s narration, it is about hope and strength and survival. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
2003
2012
Physical description
297 p.; 21 cm
ISBN
0142003077 / 9780142003077
Local notes
Donated by Joan Yona Foster, August 2022