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Description edit
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,... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters edit
- Gretel: Hansel's older sister. She's 11 years old, with blond hair and blue eyes, considered an "Aryan" by Sister Rosa, and preferred by the Major. She is said to be a cautious child.
- Hansel: Gretel's little brother who is likely to make trouble. He's 7 years old, with brown curly hair and brown eyes. He is said to look Jewish.
- The Mechanik: The father of Hansel and Gretel.
- Magda the Witch: An old gypsy type woman who lives alone in the woods, on the out skirts of Piaski. Disliked by many of the villagers. She is referred to as a "witch" but she is more of a midwife/wise woman who delivers babies and treat minor maladies.
- Nelka: Magda's great-niece and Father Piotr's granddaughter.
- Father Piotr: Magda's brother, and the town priest, with several secrets about his past.
- Telek: The town outcast who grew up living in the woods as a boy; secretly loves Nelka.
- Major: German representative in the village, a veteran of the Russian front.
- Oberfuehrer: Sadistic German SS officer with some very strange tendencies
- The Stepmother: Gretel and Hansel's stepmother
- Sister Rosa: A "Brown Sister," a Nazi participating in a program to "repatriate" children with Aryan potential.
First Sentence edit
Caught between green earth and blue sky, only truth kept me sane.
Table of Contents edit
The Witch
Once Upon A Time
Hansel and Gretel
Magda
The Forest
Brother and Sister
Nelka
Pictures
The Mechanik
The Village Piaski
Sugar
The Car
The Burning
The Drawing
Gretel
In The Cage
December 10, 1943
Ice Storm
Hansel
Telek
Christmas Eve, 1943
Father Piotr
Bones
Eindeutschung
March 11, 1944
Confession
The Babe
March 21, 1944
The Oven
Leaving
Swans
The Wheat Field
Bread
The Witch
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Endicott's Adult Fairy Tales Reading List. (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Louise Murphy (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Penguin Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 0142003077
Page Count: 297
Publisher: Penguin Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 0142003077
Page Count: 297
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PS3563.U7446 T78 2003
- Dewey: 813.54
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