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Gretel and the Dark
A dark, distinctive and addictively compelling novel set in fin-de-siècle Vienna and Nazi Germany—with a dizzying final twist.
Vienna, 1899. Josef Breuer—celebrated psychoanalyst—is about to encounter his strangest case yet. Found by the lunatic asylum, thin, head shaved, she claims to have no name, no feelings—to be, in fact, not even human. Intrigued, Breuer determines to fathom the roots of her disturbance.
Years later, in Germany, we meet Krysta. Krysta’s Papa is busy working in the infirmary with the ‘animal people,’ so little Krysta plays alone, lost in the stories of Hansel and Gretel, the Pied Piper, and more. And when everything changes and the world around her becomes as frightening as any fairy tale, Krysta finds her imagination holds powers beyond what she could have ever guessed. . . .
Eliza Granville has had a life-long fascination with the enduring quality of fairytales and their symbolism, and the idea for Gretel and the Dark was sparked when she became interested in the emphasis placed on these stories during the Third Reich.
Vienna, 1899. Josef Breuer—celebrated psychoanalyst—is about to encounter his strangest case yet. Found by the lunatic asylum, thin, head shaved, she claims to have no name, no feelings—to be, in fact, not even human. Intrigued, Breuer determines to fathom the roots of her disturbance.
Years later, in Germany, we meet Krysta. Krysta’s Papa is busy working in the infirmary with the ‘animal people,’ so little Krysta plays alone, lost in the stories of Hansel and Gretel, the Pied Piper, and more. And when everything changes and the world around her becomes as frightening as any fairy tale, Krysta finds her imagination holds powers beyond what she could have ever guessed. . . .
Eliza Granville has had a life-long fascination with the enduring quality of fairytales and their symbolism, and the idea for Gretel and the Dark was sparked when she became interested in the emphasis placed on these stories during the Third Reich.
362 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
78 people are currently reading
6715 people want to read
About the author
Eliza Granville
12 books51 followersEliza Granville currently lives in Bath. She has had a life-long fascination with the enduring quality of fairytales and their symbolism, and the idea for Gretel and the Dark was sparked when she became interested in the emphasis placed on these stories during the Third Reich.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 473 reviews
July 9, 2018
wow, this was a gorgeous, dark, unsettling marvel of a book.
and like jaye davidson in the crying game, it's got a little secret to it, so i'm going to dance around that part of it in this review. but know that, yes, there is a twist, but it is not the kind of book whose appeal lies solely in this twist. this novel stands on its own merit, and the little "aha!" moment at the end just enhances what is already a stunner of a book.
this is not the first book i have read in which fairy tales are used to offset the horrors of WWII. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel also used this conceit very well, but this book is a much more ambitious exploration of the idea.
there are three storylines here. the brief tease that opens the book follows two fearful and bruised children and the shadow they carry between them as they escape from an unknown foe through an enchanted forest, while the girl tells remembered fairytales and plots revenge upon the one responsible for their situation. it ends with a threat and a promise.
the second story takes place in vienna in 1899, and features the psychoanalyst josef breuer and a mysterious woman he calls "lilie." she was found all alone, nude and bruised, with a shaved head and tattoos on one arm, and insists that she is not a woman at all, but a machine. breuer is captivated by her beauty, and sets her up in his home until her identity can be established, over the huffy protestations of his maid gudrun. while she is under his care, black-and-white butterflies infest his home, and lilie's strange behavior manages to infatuate both breuer and his servant benjamin, while outside of his walls, the city simmers with violence and anti-semitic sentiment.
the third story takes place years later, in germany, and stars one of the most beastly little girls ever to grace a page. she is a spoiled creature, the daughter of a doctor who works with "animal people" in a "zoo" and her favorite word is "won't." her mother is dead, and her only companion is greet, her changeable servant, who fills her head with fairy tales, which get darker and more violent depending on her mood and krysta's behavior. krysta's understanding of the world around her becomes infected with these fantasy elements, and her impulsive and destructive behavior leads her into dangerous circumstances, which she continues to interpret through a veil of make-believe.
these three disparate narratives will converge in a most satisfying way, but even if they hadn't - if the "aha!" hadn't been successful - it would still have been worth reading for krysta's storyline alone. the arc her character experiences is incredibly effective and well-written, and the fairytales themselves are stories within stories within stories in that way i love.
there is so much to talk about here, but six months away from pub date, i don't want to do more than just offer a glimpse into what's coming. definitely check this one out, because - wow.
come to my blog!
and like jaye davidson in the crying game, it's got a little secret to it, so i'm going to dance around that part of it in this review. but know that, yes, there is a twist, but it is not the kind of book whose appeal lies solely in this twist. this novel stands on its own merit, and the little "aha!" moment at the end just enhances what is already a stunner of a book.
this is not the first book i have read in which fairy tales are used to offset the horrors of WWII. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel also used this conceit very well, but this book is a much more ambitious exploration of the idea.
there are three storylines here. the brief tease that opens the book follows two fearful and bruised children and the shadow they carry between them as they escape from an unknown foe through an enchanted forest, while the girl tells remembered fairytales and plots revenge upon the one responsible for their situation. it ends with a threat and a promise.
the second story takes place in vienna in 1899, and features the psychoanalyst josef breuer and a mysterious woman he calls "lilie." she was found all alone, nude and bruised, with a shaved head and tattoos on one arm, and insists that she is not a woman at all, but a machine. breuer is captivated by her beauty, and sets her up in his home until her identity can be established, over the huffy protestations of his maid gudrun. while she is under his care, black-and-white butterflies infest his home, and lilie's strange behavior manages to infatuate both breuer and his servant benjamin, while outside of his walls, the city simmers with violence and anti-semitic sentiment.
the third story takes place years later, in germany, and stars one of the most beastly little girls ever to grace a page. she is a spoiled creature, the daughter of a doctor who works with "animal people" in a "zoo" and her favorite word is "won't." her mother is dead, and her only companion is greet, her changeable servant, who fills her head with fairy tales, which get darker and more violent depending on her mood and krysta's behavior. krysta's understanding of the world around her becomes infected with these fantasy elements, and her impulsive and destructive behavior leads her into dangerous circumstances, which she continues to interpret through a veil of make-believe.
these three disparate narratives will converge in a most satisfying way, but even if they hadn't - if the "aha!" hadn't been successful - it would still have been worth reading for krysta's storyline alone. the arc her character experiences is incredibly effective and well-written, and the fairytales themselves are stories within stories within stories in that way i love.
there is so much to talk about here, but six months away from pub date, i don't want to do more than just offer a glimpse into what's coming. definitely check this one out, because - wow.
come to my blog!
November 18, 2014
Just Stars
First I was an idea. Then I came into being, charged with a very important task. I've come to find the monster.
There are stories that I enjoyed. There are stories that I fell in love with. And then there are stories that will haunt me forever. This is such a story.
In Vienna in 1899, a time of turmoil and fear, a young woman is found naked, beaten and with no memory. She is brought for treatment to the renowned psychoanalyst Josef Breuer, because she makes an unusual claim. That she was made into being to find and kill the monster.
Years later in Germany, we meet Krysta, a young orphaned girl that watches her Papa treating "animal people", when her life suddenly changes into a living nightmare and she seems to hold some strange power over it...
These two narrations, along with a breathtaking prologue, strangely overlap to create an amazing book about human nature, evil and our history's vilest moments. A known story, a tragedy from a fantasy POV, utterly frightening and weirdly fascinating. I had to stop frequently while I read this book. Not because I was bored. Simply because my mind couldn't comprehend the injustice and the darkness that exists inside a human soul. Dark, ugly, beautiful and ethereal, innocent and painful only as a true fairytale can be, this was an extraordinaire book that made me loathe and celebrate man. Capable of greatness and madness. And the thin line between them.
First I was an idea. Then I came into being, charged with a very important task. I've come to find the monster.
There are stories that I enjoyed. There are stories that I fell in love with. And then there are stories that will haunt me forever. This is such a story.
In Vienna in 1899, a time of turmoil and fear, a young woman is found naked, beaten and with no memory. She is brought for treatment to the renowned psychoanalyst Josef Breuer, because she makes an unusual claim. That she was made into being to find and kill the monster.
Years later in Germany, we meet Krysta, a young orphaned girl that watches her Papa treating "animal people", when her life suddenly changes into a living nightmare and she seems to hold some strange power over it...
These two narrations, along with a breathtaking prologue, strangely overlap to create an amazing book about human nature, evil and our history's vilest moments. A known story, a tragedy from a fantasy POV, utterly frightening and weirdly fascinating. I had to stop frequently while I read this book. Not because I was bored. Simply because my mind couldn't comprehend the injustice and the darkness that exists inside a human soul. Dark, ugly, beautiful and ethereal, innocent and painful only as a true fairytale can be, this was an extraordinaire book that made me loathe and celebrate man. Capable of greatness and madness. And the thin line between them.
January 3, 2014
Gretel and the Dark is a very hard book to review. Perhaps even impossible, because the entirety of the review I was going to write was wiped out when I came to the ending, which turned most of what I thought this story was completely upside down. As a result, I can't write, for example, about some of the reservations I had about the characterisation, because those reservations are invalidated by the ending; but if I explain how then I will ruin the final twist, which is crucial to enjoying the book, and is difficult (again, maybe even impossible) to guess.
I suppose it's pretty safe for me to explain what is covered in the blurb. Setting the tone for the rest of the narrative, the novel opens with a fairytale-like prologue in which two children run through a forest, dragging a 'Shadow' with them, escaping an unnamed monster, and telling each other stories. What seems to be the real story then begins, with Josef Breuer - a renowned psychoanalyst and contemporary of Freud - encountering a very unusual patient: a young woman who the modern reader can instantly recognise as an escapee from a WWII concentration camp. However, this section of the book takes place in Vienna in 1899, and the girl, named Lilie by Breuer, claims she is not even human, but instead a machine. The chapters following the mystery of Lilie, as Josef and his servant Benjamin compete to establish her real identity, are punctuated by chapters set some years later. Here, a badly behaved little girl called Krysta moves to a new town with her widowed father, a doctor. While he works in what she thinks is a hospital, Krysta does her best to upset and reject all his staff and suitors, but she doesn't realise her actions are leading her towards a terrible fate, one exacerbated when she becomes friends with one of the 'animal-people' who live in the 'hospital', a boy called Daniel.
After that, it all becomes difficult to talk about without spoiling everything. Seriously, don't read anything beneath the spoiler cut unless you a) have already read the book or b) have no plans to read it ever.
I really admired the complexity of the characterisation - this would be the easiest story in the world to fill with clear-cut Good and Bad characters, but even the 'good guys' here are very obviously imperfect and sometimes corrupt. Krysta is a far from flawless heroine - even after terrible things happen to her she still behaves horribly and petulantly towards others, for example - and, in the Lilie narrative, Josef is a self-obsessed, arrogant misogynist, while Benjamin is a bit of a bumbling fool. I often found the characters hard to like, but the realistic nature of these portrayals acted as a good foil for the fairytale-inspired, dreamlike elements of the story.
Gretel and the Dark is the most surprising and moving WWII novel since The Book Thief, and I think a lot of readers are going to love it - even if it is a bit of a mindfuck (in a good way). It's the perfect balance of heartbreaking humanity with elements of apparent fantasy and the power of the imagination. A unique and very memorable read.
I suppose it's pretty safe for me to explain what is covered in the blurb. Setting the tone for the rest of the narrative, the novel opens with a fairytale-like prologue in which two children run through a forest, dragging a 'Shadow' with them, escaping an unnamed monster, and telling each other stories. What seems to be the real story then begins, with Josef Breuer - a renowned psychoanalyst and contemporary of Freud - encountering a very unusual patient: a young woman who the modern reader can instantly recognise as an escapee from a WWII concentration camp. However, this section of the book takes place in Vienna in 1899, and the girl, named Lilie by Breuer, claims she is not even human, but instead a machine. The chapters following the mystery of Lilie, as Josef and his servant Benjamin compete to establish her real identity, are punctuated by chapters set some years later. Here, a badly behaved little girl called Krysta moves to a new town with her widowed father, a doctor. While he works in what she thinks is a hospital, Krysta does her best to upset and reject all his staff and suitors, but she doesn't realise her actions are leading her towards a terrible fate, one exacerbated when she becomes friends with one of the 'animal-people' who live in the 'hospital', a boy called Daniel.
After that, it all becomes difficult to talk about without spoiling everything. Seriously, don't read anything beneath the spoiler cut unless you a) have already read the book or b) have no plans to read it ever.
I really admired the complexity of the characterisation - this would be the easiest story in the world to fill with clear-cut Good and Bad characters, but even the 'good guys' here are very obviously imperfect and sometimes corrupt. Krysta is a far from flawless heroine - even after terrible things happen to her she still behaves horribly and petulantly towards others, for example - and, in the Lilie narrative, Josef is a self-obsessed, arrogant misogynist, while Benjamin is a bit of a bumbling fool. I often found the characters hard to like, but the realistic nature of these portrayals acted as a good foil for the fairytale-inspired, dreamlike elements of the story.
Gretel and the Dark is the most surprising and moving WWII novel since The Book Thief, and I think a lot of readers are going to love it - even if it is a bit of a mindfuck (in a good way). It's the perfect balance of heartbreaking humanity with elements of apparent fantasy and the power of the imagination. A unique and very memorable read.
February 1, 2014
Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville is a wonderful atmospheric and haunting novel which is written in two linked narratives. I love this type of story as it is imaginative and edgy and a real page turner.
Set in Vienna in 1899 Joseph Breuer is a Pyschoanalyst and has a new case on his hands when a young woman is found in the streets with shaven head, starved and naked, unable to establish her origins and with very little communication aprart from her insitance that she is a machine with no feelings. Joseph sets out on finding out the truth about this girl and names her Lilie.
In another time and another place a child by the name of Krysta, whos father is working in the infirmary with the "animal people" spends her days listening to the gruesone fairytales of kitchenworker Greet until suddenly her life changes and she is faced with gruesome tales of her own.
I really enjoyed this dark and haunting novel. I loved the vivid settings of this historical story and found myself totally drawn into the novel. It did take me a couple of chapters to settle into the book and to get a grasp on the characters but when I did I was both moved and delighted with the imaginative and unique storytelling of Eliza Granville.
The characters are so well written and you really do get a wonderful sense of time and place and also a sense of fear that runs through the story right to the end.
Quote from Gretel and the Dark
Books; I repeat, for they've not only been a solace during the long years but also provided the keys to understanding other people's ideas and achievements, their hopes and fears, quirks and foibles, their dreams.....their demons"
The story is both moving and disturbing and I found the fairy tales told within the story to be well excuted as well as vivid and eerie.
This is a very powerful and memorable novel and the stroy is told in beautiful prose.
I think readers who enjoyed books like the The Snow Child will really enjoy this dark tale.
My thanks to Penguin Books for an Advance Reading Copy of this novel in return for an honest unbiased review.
Set in Vienna in 1899 Joseph Breuer is a Pyschoanalyst and has a new case on his hands when a young woman is found in the streets with shaven head, starved and naked, unable to establish her origins and with very little communication aprart from her insitance that she is a machine with no feelings. Joseph sets out on finding out the truth about this girl and names her Lilie.
In another time and another place a child by the name of Krysta, whos father is working in the infirmary with the "animal people" spends her days listening to the gruesone fairytales of kitchenworker Greet until suddenly her life changes and she is faced with gruesome tales of her own.
I really enjoyed this dark and haunting novel. I loved the vivid settings of this historical story and found myself totally drawn into the novel. It did take me a couple of chapters to settle into the book and to get a grasp on the characters but when I did I was both moved and delighted with the imaginative and unique storytelling of Eliza Granville.
The characters are so well written and you really do get a wonderful sense of time and place and also a sense of fear that runs through the story right to the end.
Quote from Gretel and the Dark
Books; I repeat, for they've not only been a solace during the long years but also provided the keys to understanding other people's ideas and achievements, their hopes and fears, quirks and foibles, their dreams.....their demons"
The story is both moving and disturbing and I found the fairy tales told within the story to be well excuted as well as vivid and eerie.
This is a very powerful and memorable novel and the stroy is told in beautiful prose.
I think readers who enjoyed books like the The Snow Child will really enjoy this dark tale.
My thanks to Penguin Books for an Advance Reading Copy of this novel in return for an honest unbiased review.
December 9, 2015
Didn't really care for this book to be honest. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. I'm still excited to talk about it with my book club though, because the story leaves lots of room for discussions and interpretations.
December 4, 2014
Dark is in the title and dark is this story. The power of story telling, the holocaust and all its atrocities and a young girl caught up in its web. Such a different way of telling this story, like fairy tales so much of it is veiled, not spelled out but just hinted at. So hard to describe, almost like a tale within a tale. Two different time lines but the circumstances are so different in both so one is not easily confused. All the fairy tales in the book are so fitting and they are the dark tales of old not the clean sanitized Disney tales.
Very different, but a powerful look at the horrors of the holocaust and beyond and before.
Very different, but a powerful look at the horrors of the holocaust and beyond and before.
April 30, 2017
Okay, if I were grading the last 80% of this novel, I would give it a well deserved 4 stars, but I can't do that, and my rating needs to reflect the novel as a whole. Frankly, the first half of this book was trash; confusing, frustrating, and held together by two narrators who were equal parts unreliable and arguably insane.
I've noticed a growing trend with writers where they deliberately withhold information for the sake of being poetic or dramatic, or tell a story backwards to "keep the reader guessing," but it just doesn't work. I can have my footing on a novel and still be dazzled with surprise and meaning. As a reader, I shouldn't have to be wandering in the dark until the end when I'm allowed that moment of clarity when everything else becomes clear.
I don't know, honestly, part of me hates this book, and the other half really liked the end, when I just wanted to enjoy a good dark book.
April 27, 2015
I cannot begin to articulate how much I LOVED this book. What a TERRIFIC read! Dark and mysterious, hauntingly familiar but unnervingly eerie and seductive, the historical fiction was scrumptious, the writing hypnotic and by story’s end I couldn’t get enough of Krysta and Daniel, Lilie and Benjamin, Josef and Greet. It’s impossible for me to share much about the plot without spoiling the read for you but I can share it was the most unique and heartfelt treatment of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust I have ever read in my lifetime so far.
“After all, why should I be punished for obeying orders? We all knew what happened to anyone who objected. Everything I’ve done, I was forced to do. No good telling them it had scientific purpose,” said the witch. “She’s after Daniel’s memories so she can invent a wicked story of her own,” thought Krysta.
Was the witch a fairy tale character?
Brothers Grimm fairy tales, especially Hansel and Gretel and The Pied Piper, are strategically and skillfully woven into the fabric of this story. There are ogres and bean stalks, witches and ovens, dark woods and candy houses. At times the story felt supernatural and mystic, just like a fairy tale, but painfully real at the same time. This story is a fairy tale woven into a fairy tale folded into a fairy tale…so dark and menacing but agonizingly satisfying. I couldn’t stop turning the pages! The word “enchanting” keeps popping into my head!
“I try doing what I’ve always done – escape into that secret part of me where by magic or heroism I make things turn out differently, leaving behind an automaton, a machine with no feelings whatsoever – but today I can’t. A door has closed. The ideas have gone. The words aren’t there. Perhaps this is what happens when you invent stories inside stories that are themselves inside a fairy tale: they become horribly real.”
The last chapter of just forty-one pages ties the whole story together and I wept like a child as I slowly made my way through those final pages and put everything together. Oh my I could not stop crying! The reaction was so profound I took the dry eye test – the next day I re-read the closing chapter to see if I could replicate the reaction – the flood gates opened once again. My emotions flowed from my eyes onto the pages!
Read just the last chapter and you won’t get it. Read up to the last chapter and stop and you won’t get it. The last chapter is the big finale, the culminating revelation that binds this remarkable story together.
Just when I thought I’ve heard every version and interpretation of the horrors of Nazi genocide, along comes Gretel and the Dark! I loved this book. Perhaps you will too.
“After all, why should I be punished for obeying orders? We all knew what happened to anyone who objected. Everything I’ve done, I was forced to do. No good telling them it had scientific purpose,” said the witch. “She’s after Daniel’s memories so she can invent a wicked story of her own,” thought Krysta.
Was the witch a fairy tale character?
Brothers Grimm fairy tales, especially Hansel and Gretel and The Pied Piper, are strategically and skillfully woven into the fabric of this story. There are ogres and bean stalks, witches and ovens, dark woods and candy houses. At times the story felt supernatural and mystic, just like a fairy tale, but painfully real at the same time. This story is a fairy tale woven into a fairy tale folded into a fairy tale…so dark and menacing but agonizingly satisfying. I couldn’t stop turning the pages! The word “enchanting” keeps popping into my head!
“I try doing what I’ve always done – escape into that secret part of me where by magic or heroism I make things turn out differently, leaving behind an automaton, a machine with no feelings whatsoever – but today I can’t. A door has closed. The ideas have gone. The words aren’t there. Perhaps this is what happens when you invent stories inside stories that are themselves inside a fairy tale: they become horribly real.”
The last chapter of just forty-one pages ties the whole story together and I wept like a child as I slowly made my way through those final pages and put everything together. Oh my I could not stop crying! The reaction was so profound I took the dry eye test – the next day I re-read the closing chapter to see if I could replicate the reaction – the flood gates opened once again. My emotions flowed from my eyes onto the pages!
Read just the last chapter and you won’t get it. Read up to the last chapter and stop and you won’t get it. The last chapter is the big finale, the culminating revelation that binds this remarkable story together.
Just when I thought I’ve heard every version and interpretation of the horrors of Nazi genocide, along comes Gretel and the Dark! I loved this book. Perhaps you will too.
October 23, 2017
I try doing what I’ve always done – escape into that secret part of me where by magic or heroism I make things turn out differently, leaving behind an automaton, a machine with no feelings whatsoever – but today I can’t. A door has closed. The ideas have gone. The words aren’t there. Perhaps this is what happens when you invent stories inside stories that are themselves inside a fairy tale: they become horribly real.
This book is about the power of storytelling. And more importantly, this book is about how stories can pull us out of the darkness and back into the light. Gretel and the Dark was marketed to me as having a stunning twist, but honestly, the twist isn't what I liked about this book. I liked this book more for the characters and for the intrigue than for the actual twist.
This book is also about prejudice, and more specifically, it's about the holocaust. Part of what appealed to me about this book was the interesting new take on portraying the horrors of the holocaust. The book is genuinely horrifying - you feel as if you're in the head of our main character.
I'm still a bit conflicted about the audiobook version of this. The audiobook was both the best and worst part of this book. The female narrator's voice was incredibly eerie and creepy!! Perfect for this story. Unfortunately, I also found the two narrators hard to focus on. The audio was fantastic, but unfortunately, given how confusing the story is, I found the actual book hard to follow.
This may be the shortest review I've written in the last bit of my reviewing career, but I haven't really figured out how I feel about this. Perhaps I'll write more of this later.
July 12, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2014
**3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for writing genius**
So here we are, I’m finally getting some words down about this one – it has kind of had me in a dither because whilst I LOVED the writing, dark and delicious – with an intriguing story and some wonderful prose – I found that I was vaguely disappointed with it. Doesnt make much sense I know, but this is INCREDIBLY difficult because anything I can say that would explain would spoil the heart of the novel for the next reader – and I do not want to do that. Because despite my personal feelings towards it, I fully appreciate the talent behind this.
We have two strands to the tale, the story of Josef Breuer and his search for answers about a beautiful young girl who comes under his care and the story of Krysta, a somewhat lonely child, living a few years later. It kept me involved, deep into one half then the other, this was a dark and often terrifying story obviously inspired by the brothers Grimm and all things fairytale. The often poetic prose is terrific and there was a lot here that I loved.
The author has created something special, there is no doubt about that – and its purely my own head that wishes it had been something other than it is – so I would encourage anyone who likes the sound of this one to give it a go. Some tough subjects are tackled in a unique way and for that reason alone it will be worth your time and effort.
Happy Reading Folks!
So here we are, I’m finally getting some words down about this one – it has kind of had me in a dither because whilst I LOVED the writing, dark and delicious – with an intriguing story and some wonderful prose – I found that I was vaguely disappointed with it. Doesnt make much sense I know, but this is INCREDIBLY difficult because anything I can say that would explain would spoil the heart of the novel for the next reader – and I do not want to do that. Because despite my personal feelings towards it, I fully appreciate the talent behind this.
We have two strands to the tale, the story of Josef Breuer and his search for answers about a beautiful young girl who comes under his care and the story of Krysta, a somewhat lonely child, living a few years later. It kept me involved, deep into one half then the other, this was a dark and often terrifying story obviously inspired by the brothers Grimm and all things fairytale. The often poetic prose is terrific and there was a lot here that I loved.
The author has created something special, there is no doubt about that – and its purely my own head that wishes it had been something other than it is – so I would encourage anyone who likes the sound of this one to give it a go. Some tough subjects are tackled in a unique way and for that reason alone it will be worth your time and effort.
Happy Reading Folks!
April 22, 2016
Firstly, I would like to mention that I listened to the audio and it was an amazing experience. Cassandra Campbell did a phenomenal job, and I was entranced throughout the story. For me this was a book about the power of stories. There are two main stories lines but within these are many backflashes and many fairytales shared with us. It is one of the darkest books I've read in a long time - I think almost all the evil men can do is showcased. Although I liked the ending, and I understand the need for the balance between the two stories, I definitely preferred the hauntingly beautiful writing in Krysta's section. I can't wait to read more by this author.
May 4, 2021
Neužkabino..
🖋️ ... vaikystė - neįkainojama vertybė. Tai pamatas, ant kurio statomas gyvenimas.
🖋️ Visos religijos skirtos vergams.
🖋️ ... tylėdami žmonės pasako daugiau nei kalbėdami.
🖋️ ... vaikystė - neįkainojama vertybė. Tai pamatas, ant kurio statomas gyvenimas.
🖋️ Visos religijos skirtos vergams.
🖋️ ... tylėdami žmonės pasako daugiau nei kalbėdami.
November 10, 2016
Wow. Just. Wow! I really liked this but I can see how it would not be everyone's cup of tea. It's not easy to follow but it all comes together in the end. Thought provoking and worth reading.
November 17, 2014
Книжка для людей. Простые люди, не знатоки, не идеальные читатели (тм) станут ее читать и ужасаться, увлекаться, а то и всплакнут наверняка. Смеяться будут вряд ли, потому что смешного в ней нет ничего, - она, среди прочего, о том, как нам наконец избыть боль и справиться с генетической памятью о Второй мировой. Казалось бы, сколько можно уже, да, но вот Элайза Грэнвилл нашла другой подход, неожиданный и вполне удивительный. Сравнивать ее с "Мальчиком в полосатой пижаме" или "Книжным вором" тоже не стоит - она все-таки немного о другом и иначе, хотя - попомните мое слово - сравнивать будут, с треском пустословия и под фанфары глубокомысленности. Выглядеть такие сравниватели будут, конечно, преглупо - а чего с "Горячим снегом" не сравнить или "Августом 44-го"? Тоже о войне, чо. Больше всего это похоже, мне кажется, на "Город воров" Бенёффа и "Мандолину капитана Корелли" Луи де Берньера, но этого вряд ли кто заметит.
А Грэнвилл водит читателя за нос практически до самого конца, подбрасывая новые повороты вроде бы незамысловатого сказочного сюжета, счищая все новые и новые слои повествования. Как, в самом деле, избывать боль, которая "надоела миру"? Только рассказывая сказки. Вот увидите - вы сами не успеете сообразить, как очень удивитесь, читая эту книжку. И не раз.
А Грэнвилл водит читателя за нос практически до самого конца, подбрасывая новые повороты вроде бы незамысловатого сказочного сюжета, счищая все новые и новые слои повествования. Как, в самом деле, избывать боль, которая "надоела миру"? Только рассказывая сказки. Вот увидите - вы сами не успеете сообразить, как очень удивитесь, читая эту книжку. И не раз.
July 23, 2015
3 1/2 stars
Dr. Josef Breuer, in 1899 Vienna, a much-celebrated psychoanalyst is brought a new patient. A young beautiful woman, found naked and beaten. She has no memory of who she is but instead claims to be a machine.
Many years later, in Nazi Germany, a young girl named Krysta plays alone while her father works in an infirmary next to her home. Krysta is a spoiled little brat but also completely neglected by her father and the other adults in her life. She is still young enough to firmly believe in fairytales and we see her observations of the world through this filter.
The chapters are interwoven with time changes and with dark fairy stories and the only criticism I have is that sometimes these time jumps happened without warning. Literally from one paragraph to the next, making the reading slightly jarring at times.
This book is hard to review, not because of the big plot twist, but because I disliked the majority of the characters. They were unlikable, selfish or even just plain destructive so I can’t say that I actually enjoyed the reading experience but it was unquestionably unique.
If WW2 books and dark fairytales are your thing then you have to read this.
Dr. Josef Breuer, in 1899 Vienna, a much-celebrated psychoanalyst is brought a new patient. A young beautiful woman, found naked and beaten. She has no memory of who she is but instead claims to be a machine.
Many years later, in Nazi Germany, a young girl named Krysta plays alone while her father works in an infirmary next to her home. Krysta is a spoiled little brat but also completely neglected by her father and the other adults in her life. She is still young enough to firmly believe in fairytales and we see her observations of the world through this filter.
The chapters are interwoven with time changes and with dark fairy stories and the only criticism I have is that sometimes these time jumps happened without warning. Literally from one paragraph to the next, making the reading slightly jarring at times.
This book is hard to review, not because of the big plot twist, but because I disliked the majority of the characters. They were unlikable, selfish or even just plain destructive so I can’t say that I actually enjoyed the reading experience but it was unquestionably unique.
If WW2 books and dark fairytales are your thing then you have to read this.
October 18, 2020
Pamiętam, że kupiłam tę książkę zupełnie przypadkiem, dobierając ją by zakup był bardziej opłacalny. Zaintrygowała mnie okładka, a następnie garstka bardzo ogólnych opinii, że to naj naj naj książka jaką te osoby czytały w życiu. Nie doczytałam wówczas, że historia ma coś wspólnego z wojną, a to nie jest tematyką która lubię, wręcz przeciwnie. Jednak, skoro opinie były takie OCH ACH to stwierdziłam, że musi być warto.
Fabuła toczy się dwutorowo (przeszłość/przyszłość), a obie historie, co zapowiadane jest już na okładce, jakoś się łączą. Mimo, że przeczytałam do końca, miedzy innymi po to by dowiedzieć się co te opowieści łączy, to czuje, że nadal tego nie wiem. Część bardziej współczesna (rozterki starego lekarza) jest dość nudna i do niczego nie prowadzi, część rozgrywająca się w trakcie wojny (historia małej dziewczynki) wypada dużo lepiej. Ta druga ma bezpośrednie nawiązania do wojny, obozów koncentracyjnych widzianych oczami dziecka, które nie rozumie czego jest świadkiem. Sądziłam, że w finale dowiem się jak opowieść o małej Kryście wiąże się z historią pana doktora, ale wszystko jakoś się na końcu rozlazło. Choć zauważam jakieś podobieństwa miedzy historiami to są one na tyle rozmyte, że nie wiem czy to o to chodziło autorce. Nie chce spoilerować swoimi przypuszczeniami, ale jeśli dobrze się domyśliłam po tych wszystkich niedopowiedzeniach, to rozwiązanie jest kompletnie rozczarowujące... A może po prostu nic nie zrozumiałam z tych wynurzeń? Z takimi historiami to mam wrażenie, że tylko autorka wie o co tam chodzi...
Sam styl opowiadania jest przystępny, szybko się czyta i książka nie pachnie typową powieścią wojenną. Przypuszczam, że tylko dlatego dobrnęłam do końca. Jest też trochę baśniowych nawiązań i surrealistycznych wstawek, których fanką nie jestem. Mam ostatecznie poczucie, że autorka trochę za bardzo się nakombinowała i za wiele nawrzucała do tej historii nie wyjaśniając tego co powinno być jasno określone, chociażby w finale. Nie lubię takich półotwartych historii.
Plusem jest to, że będę mogła tę pozycję podciągnąć pod tegoroczne wyzwanie klimatyczne, które prowadzimy na forum GR, oraz pozbyć się w końcu tego tytułu ze swojej półki.
Fabuła toczy się dwutorowo (przeszłość/przyszłość), a obie historie, co zapowiadane jest już na okładce, jakoś się łączą. Mimo, że przeczytałam do końca, miedzy innymi po to by dowiedzieć się co te opowieści łączy, to czuje, że nadal tego nie wiem. Część bardziej współczesna (rozterki starego lekarza) jest dość nudna i do niczego nie prowadzi, część rozgrywająca się w trakcie wojny (historia małej dziewczynki) wypada dużo lepiej. Ta druga ma bezpośrednie nawiązania do wojny, obozów koncentracyjnych widzianych oczami dziecka, które nie rozumie czego jest świadkiem. Sądziłam, że w finale dowiem się jak opowieść o małej Kryście wiąże się z historią pana doktora, ale wszystko jakoś się na końcu rozlazło. Choć zauważam jakieś podobieństwa miedzy historiami to są one na tyle rozmyte, że nie wiem czy to o to chodziło autorce. Nie chce spoilerować swoimi przypuszczeniami, ale jeśli dobrze się domyśliłam po tych wszystkich niedopowiedzeniach, to rozwiązanie jest kompletnie rozczarowujące... A może po prostu nic nie zrozumiałam z tych wynurzeń? Z takimi historiami to mam wrażenie, że tylko autorka wie o co tam chodzi...
Sam styl opowiadania jest przystępny, szybko się czyta i książka nie pachnie typową powieścią wojenną. Przypuszczam, że tylko dlatego dobrnęłam do końca. Jest też trochę baśniowych nawiązań i surrealistycznych wstawek, których fanką nie jestem. Mam ostatecznie poczucie, że autorka trochę za bardzo się nakombinowała i za wiele nawrzucała do tej historii nie wyjaśniając tego co powinno być jasno określone, chociażby w finale. Nie lubię takich półotwartych historii.
Plusem jest to, że będę mogła tę pozycję podciągnąć pod tegoroczne wyzwanie klimatyczne, które prowadzimy na forum GR, oraz pozbyć się w końcu tego tytułu ze swojej półki.
September 23, 2016
This is one of those books where my expectations didn't match up to the reality....so, I was disappointed. My biggest problem was with the characters. There wasn't one that I liked, that I could relate to, that I understood, that I had sympathy for, that I could root for or that I could care about in the least. I need at least one of those things. There was also a lot of repetition regarding character traits. I was a little bored by this.
I will say that the narration of the audiobook was excellent. I loved Stefan Rudnicki and Cassandra Campbell. They are true professionals. So 2 stars.
I will say that the narration of the audiobook was excellent. I loved Stefan Rudnicki and Cassandra Campbell. They are true professionals. So 2 stars.
February 17, 2014
A review copy was provided by Penguin in return for an honest review
I was going to wait a couple of days before writing this review but I decided to just go ahead and do it. Thinking about it won't make it any easier.
This book was incredible. One of the best I've read in a long time...and I don't say that lightly. I only had 3 five star reads last year. This is my first of this year.
I was putting this review off because it's extremely hard to talk about this book without spoiling it and spoiling this book, would be a crime against humanity. I know this will lead to me rambling on or just repeating the blurb in some form or other.
You can find the blurb on Goodreads so I'm not going to do that. What I will say is that this book hits the reader with one of those rare "What the actual fuck!" moments that makes you want to go back to the start and read the entire book again. I might just actually do that.
The ending throws the entire story into disarray. It will change every opinion you previously held about the story and the characters within. I have seen it shelved as YA fiction but I'm not sure I agree with that label. Yes the blurb is sort of young adult-ish but the writing itself is extremely sophisticated. The story is complex and requires a little more involvement that your usual young adult read. It's almost like a darker, more threatening version of The Boy in the Stripped Pyjama's. Adult readers who are into YA will certainly love it.
I cannot wait and to see the reactions when this book hits the masses. It's certainly deserves every scrap of attention it's going to get. I don't know what else to say other than please add this book to goodreads and make sure you read it. Then come back and message me so Ill have someone obsess over it with!
Eliza Granville is definitely going to be an author to watch closely. I eagerly wait to see what she comes up with next.
April 10, 2015
This was definitely a good book, but at the same time, it wasn't.
There was way too little action in this book. The first 250 pages said pretty much the same thing over and over again. It was interesting to read, though, and I also enjoyed it. But it wasn't great. Then after 280 pages I started to see the connections between the two stories, but it still didn't captivate me. ''Oh, okay. That was strange.'' was basically eveything I thought while reading this book. It didn't make me feel any kind of emotions to be honest.
Something I'm also a bit sad about is that I had guessed the plot twist correctly. At the beginning of the book I already thought 'Oh I bet that at the end of the story this and this turn out to be this and this.' and I was right. Of course I had not guessed all things, but I'm still guite disappointed about the plot twist. Especially because I don't really agree with how it was written (same goes for the characters).
This was a lot like my Deathless reading experience. The whole story made too little sense for me, it didn't make me feel any emotions and everything was just a bit nah. But unlike with Deathless, I did enjoy Gretel and the Dark.
There was way too little action in this book. The first 250 pages said pretty much the same thing over and over again. It was interesting to read, though, and I also enjoyed it. But it wasn't great. Then after 280 pages I started to see the connections between the two stories, but it still didn't captivate me. ''Oh, okay. That was strange.'' was basically eveything I thought while reading this book. It didn't make me feel any kind of emotions to be honest.
Something I'm also a bit sad about is that I had guessed the plot twist correctly. At the beginning of the book I already thought 'Oh I bet that at the end of the story this and this turn out to be this and this.' and I was right. Of course I had not guessed all things, but I'm still guite disappointed about the plot twist. Especially because I don't really agree with how it was written (same goes for the characters).
This was a lot like my Deathless reading experience. The whole story made too little sense for me, it didn't make me feel any emotions and everything was just a bit nah. But unlike with Deathless, I did enjoy Gretel and the Dark.
September 22, 2017
Gothic, Erry, Raw and beautifully penned. One of my best reads this year. This one is going to stay with me for a long long time.
October 23, 2015
It was a little hard for me to read because of the rich vocabulary, but once I got used to going to the dictionary a little more frequently than usual, the effort proved worthy: I entered two different worlds. In one of them you have precise descriptions, defined characters, a clear plot. While reading you feel you could be there. In the other one everything is more imprecise, there’s also a story but it’s frequently interrupted by (or complemented with) grim fairy tales, and as it’s narrated from a girl’s point of view, the reader has to guess and reconstruct the true plot. Paradoxically, the story that explicitly spins threads of fantastic elements inside its framework is the first one.
Telling more about both plots would lead to spoilers so I won’t go on with it, but I want to remark that when I was about to feel disappointed by the conclusion of one of them I found its integration with the other was a really elegant and nice turn. So I found the end of the book an excellent culmination to a very well written story.
In my opinión, a great novel.
Telling more about both plots would lead to spoilers so I won’t go on with it, but I want to remark that when I was about to feel disappointed by the conclusion of one of them I found its integration with the other was a really elegant and nice turn. So I found the end of the book an excellent culmination to a very well written story.
In my opinión, a great novel.
July 28, 2015
I honestly can't tell you how much I loved this.
I wish it were one of those books you can review unreservedly, rave about it and tick the reasons off a long list why everyone should go and read it this instant.
The reason I can't do that is because I don't want to ruin this experience for anyone else.
It is a dark book. It is a powerful book. It is a book full of plot twists and surprises and horrible people. Full of history and fairy tales and a mix of both at the same time.
Just go and read it.
“Books; I repeat, for they've not only been a solace during the long years but also provided the keys to understanding other people's ideas and achievements, their hopes and fears, quirks and foibles, their dreams.....their demons”
I wish it were one of those books you can review unreservedly, rave about it and tick the reasons off a long list why everyone should go and read it this instant.
The reason I can't do that is because I don't want to ruin this experience for anyone else.
It is a dark book. It is a powerful book. It is a book full of plot twists and surprises and horrible people. Full of history and fairy tales and a mix of both at the same time.
Just go and read it.
“Books; I repeat, for they've not only been a solace during the long years but also provided the keys to understanding other people's ideas and achievements, their hopes and fears, quirks and foibles, their dreams.....their demons”
November 23, 2016
Dull and disjointed storylines populated by loathsome characters are not my cup of tea.
July 14, 2018
Nors užtrukau, kol įveikiau (šiek tiek trūko laisvo laiko), bet Wow - užskaitau. Skaitosi labai keistai ir kartais net priverčia sutrikti. Paraleliai, skyriais pakaitom, pasakojamos dvi istorijos apie paiką mergaitę Kristą bei jos gyvenimą ir merginą Leliją bei Benjaminą; jos abi iš skirtingų metų, skiria net 40metis, todėl vis spėlioji kas jas sieja, kur tas kabliukas. Kažkokie magiški elementai priminė "Pano labirintą" (filmą), Gretės pasakojimai labai panašėjo į kažkada, jei neklystu, per Lnk rodytas pasakaites, savotiškas trumpas pasakaites apie "Alavinį kareivelį" ir kt, kurios atrodė ganėtinai nevaikiškos ir net šiurpokos. Todėl ne kartą Gretės lūpomis ištartos siaubulingas pasakaites, primins tuos filmukus ir norėsis pasakyti, jog vaikams, Kristai, tikrai nedera tokių šiurpybių pasakoti. Lelijos istorija atrodys mistiška su tais drugeliais. Norėtųsi ir daugiau papasakoti, bet tai tiesiog reikia perskaityti ir atrasti tiesą paskutiniuose puslapiuose, kuri privers išsižioti.
Ar suklydau sakydama, jog tai man primena "Jonuko ir Grytutės" perpasakojimą? Nelabai, nors tai būtų labai tooooooolimas perpasakojimas. Ko netruks? Šiurpių pasakų, pasaulio vaiko akimis, tamsos ir netikėtos atomazgos. Suflerių? Užrašyti metai ant knygos galo.
Ar suklydau sakydama, jog tai man primena "Jonuko ir Grytutės" perpasakojimą? Nelabai, nors tai būtų labai tooooooolimas perpasakojimas. Ko netruks? Šiurpių pasakų, pasaulio vaiko akimis, tamsos ir netikėtos atomazgos. Suflerių? Užrašyti metai ant knygos galo.
January 23, 2021
Jei ieškote knygos, kurioje būtų gyva vaizduotė, tai šioji yra ta. Labai netikėta gerąja prasme. Ir giliai į širdį įpuolanti.
October 24, 2018
Kažkodėl dabar prisimenu "Karalaitės ant žirnio" moralą, kad princesė visada liks princesė ir kaip beatrodytų, pajus žirnį ir po krūva patalų.
Nes pati knyga apie nacius ir jų žiaurumą, jei ką.
Nes pati knyga apie nacius ir jų žiaurumą, jei ką.
June 21, 2017
I liked this book a lot for the majority of it and then was a little disappointed by how the two different story lines came together... but as I'm thinking about it, I might like it more... this is a weird one. Worth the brain power.
November 20, 2014
Wow. What a beautifully dark and twisted journey this book took me on. The way the characters use fairy tales to make sense of a horrific and bitter reality pierces me right through the heart. The prose drips with elegance. And we're supposed to believe Eliza Granville is a debut novelist? Get outta town.
Some of my very favorite books are those with two or more intertwining storylines, each so different that it's not clear until the very end how they are connected. The Hundred-Year House, The Golem and the Jinni, and Lexicon all come to mind as particularly well-executed examples. Gretel and the Dark now joins my mental list right at the very top. Granville drops hints like bread crumbs along the way, letting you think you know how her two tales will come together, but I for one couldn't have guessed the surprising and perfect way it would happen.
The book opens with a Prologue that frankly won't make much sense at first read. Never fear—file it away in one of your unused brain corners and plunge ahead. The first chapter introduces Dr. Josef Breuer, an actual historical figure who was an early mentor to Sigmund Freud and laid the groundwork for psychoanalysis. In the novel's 1899, Breuer is unexpectedly called into service when his gardener discovers a beautiful young girl, naked and beaten and left for dead, and brings her to Breuer's house for treatment. The girl, who Breuer decides to call Lilie, apparently has no memories of her former life. She says she isn't human at all, but a machine, and asks Breuer to help her find a monster and kill him.
The next chapter skips ahead in time to Nazi Germany, where a decidedly bratty little girl named Krysta and her father, a doctor, have relocated so he can work in a mysterious hospital. Krysta doesn't know exactly what goes on in the infirmary, but she's not too worried because her father says they're not people he's working on, but dangerous animals. She spends her time telling her doll stories she heard from her old nanny, Greet. As things begin to change and Krysta's life grows darker and more frightening, fairy stories are her escape and her haven.
Gretel and the Dark is aptly titled—it's dark indeed, at times crushingly so. But within that darkness is a redemptive story, as beautiful as it is haunting. The way Granville brings all the little strands of her two stories together at the end is stunning (the butterflies! Seriously, someone read this book so we can exclaim and sigh together over what Granville does with the butterflies!) and deeply, achingly satisfying.
One of the best books I've read this year.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
Some of my very favorite books are those with two or more intertwining storylines, each so different that it's not clear until the very end how they are connected. The Hundred-Year House, The Golem and the Jinni, and Lexicon all come to mind as particularly well-executed examples. Gretel and the Dark now joins my mental list right at the very top. Granville drops hints like bread crumbs along the way, letting you think you know how her two tales will come together, but I for one couldn't have guessed the surprising and perfect way it would happen.
The book opens with a Prologue that frankly won't make much sense at first read. Never fear—file it away in one of your unused brain corners and plunge ahead. The first chapter introduces Dr. Josef Breuer, an actual historical figure who was an early mentor to Sigmund Freud and laid the groundwork for psychoanalysis. In the novel's 1899, Breuer is unexpectedly called into service when his gardener discovers a beautiful young girl, naked and beaten and left for dead, and brings her to Breuer's house for treatment. The girl, who Breuer decides to call Lilie, apparently has no memories of her former life. She says she isn't human at all, but a machine, and asks Breuer to help her find a monster and kill him.
The next chapter skips ahead in time to Nazi Germany, where a decidedly bratty little girl named Krysta and her father, a doctor, have relocated so he can work in a mysterious hospital. Krysta doesn't know exactly what goes on in the infirmary, but she's not too worried because her father says they're not people he's working on, but dangerous animals. She spends her time telling her doll stories she heard from her old nanny, Greet. As things begin to change and Krysta's life grows darker and more frightening, fairy stories are her escape and her haven.
Gretel and the Dark is aptly titled—it's dark indeed, at times crushingly so. But within that darkness is a redemptive story, as beautiful as it is haunting. The way Granville brings all the little strands of her two stories together at the end is stunning (the butterflies! Seriously, someone read this book so we can exclaim and sigh together over what Granville does with the butterflies!) and deeply, achingly satisfying.
One of the best books I've read this year.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
January 20, 2015
Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville is a difficult book to review. Yes I know, it seems to be what every reviewer is saying about this novel but its true. To review this book, to say anything in detail about it, is to give away the plot twists that make this book as powerful a novel that it is. But I will try to validate the positive review I believe this fantasy, drama deserves. Without telling you too much about it.
"..'Very well Lilie. Continue. What profession did you father follow?'
'Father?' The slightest of frowns creased her forehead and her voice became that of one reciting a learned text. 'He collected bones from charnel-houses, and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame.'
Josef blinked and leaned forward, suddenly excited. 'Ah , a quote from Mary Shelley-you allude to Frankenstein.' He hesitated. They were approaching quagmire ground. Dead mother, unnatural father-the very situation warned against in old fairy stories. It was, moreover, Sigmund's territory. 'So this is the monster, then? Your father?'
For a fraction of a second, Lilie lifted her eyes to his. 'Frankenstein wasn't a monster. He was the maker of monsters..."
Dr. Josef Breuer, in 1899 Vienna, a much celebrated psychoanalyst is brought a new patient. A young beautiful woman, found naked and beaten. She has no memory of who she is. She instead claims to be a machine. He calls her Lilie.
Many years later, in Nazi Germany, a young girl named Krysta plays alone while her father works in an infirmary next to her home. Krysta is a spoiled child, whose mother is dead, and often drifts off into a world of fairy tales. A world of make believe that becomes more real than her own.
The two, Lilie and Krysta, hold onto a world of imagination and stories that they wrap around themselves to keep the reality of the world they are living in away. But as their worlds are invaded by the outside world, their strength is tested.
"...I try doing what I've always done-escape into that secret part of me where by magic or heroism I make things turn out differently, leaving behind an automation, a machine with no feelings whatsoever-but today I can't. A door has closed. The ideas have gone. The words aren't there. Perhaps this is what happens when you invent stories inside stories that are themselves inside a fairy tale: they become horribly real..."
Gretel and the Dark, is in its essence a story of survival. A tale of the power of the mind to override whatever the body is suffering. To take the powerless to a place where they have some power. To a place they do not feel anymore. This is where Lilie and Krysta find themselves. This is where they feel they must be to survive.
Gretel and the Dark is a fairy tale but it is not. It is a psychological thriller, but then it is not. It is all of these and none. It is very much a good read.
"..'Very well Lilie. Continue. What profession did you father follow?'
'Father?' The slightest of frowns creased her forehead and her voice became that of one reciting a learned text. 'He collected bones from charnel-houses, and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame.'
Josef blinked and leaned forward, suddenly excited. 'Ah , a quote from Mary Shelley-you allude to Frankenstein.' He hesitated. They were approaching quagmire ground. Dead mother, unnatural father-the very situation warned against in old fairy stories. It was, moreover, Sigmund's territory. 'So this is the monster, then? Your father?'
For a fraction of a second, Lilie lifted her eyes to his. 'Frankenstein wasn't a monster. He was the maker of monsters..."
Dr. Josef Breuer, in 1899 Vienna, a much celebrated psychoanalyst is brought a new patient. A young beautiful woman, found naked and beaten. She has no memory of who she is. She instead claims to be a machine. He calls her Lilie.
Many years later, in Nazi Germany, a young girl named Krysta plays alone while her father works in an infirmary next to her home. Krysta is a spoiled child, whose mother is dead, and often drifts off into a world of fairy tales. A world of make believe that becomes more real than her own.
The two, Lilie and Krysta, hold onto a world of imagination and stories that they wrap around themselves to keep the reality of the world they are living in away. But as their worlds are invaded by the outside world, their strength is tested.
"...I try doing what I've always done-escape into that secret part of me where by magic or heroism I make things turn out differently, leaving behind an automation, a machine with no feelings whatsoever-but today I can't. A door has closed. The ideas have gone. The words aren't there. Perhaps this is what happens when you invent stories inside stories that are themselves inside a fairy tale: they become horribly real..."
Gretel and the Dark, is in its essence a story of survival. A tale of the power of the mind to override whatever the body is suffering. To take the powerless to a place where they have some power. To a place they do not feel anymore. This is where Lilie and Krysta find themselves. This is where they feel they must be to survive.
Gretel and the Dark is a fairy tale but it is not. It is a psychological thriller, but then it is not. It is all of these and none. It is very much a good read.
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