Review: "Gretel and the Drak" by Elisa Granville

Penguin, 2014. 368 pages.
Rating: ★★★★ (4 stars)
Source: Library

Synopsis (via Goodreads): "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 real world around her becomes as frightening as any fairy tale, Krysta finds that her imagination holds powers beyond what she could have ever guessed . . ."

Gretel and the Dark is a captivating, dark and thought-provoking gem of a book about war, stories and escapism. I found it to be a real page-turner that kept me reading well beyond my bedtime on more than one occasion. Always a sign of a very good book for me! I particularly loved the way the two storylines wove in and out of each other to create a rich and powerful tale.

Krysta's story is an intertwining of (often dark) fairytales with real-life horror (it put me in mind of Pan's Labyrinth). It is told in first person, allowing the tragic, monstrous events that take place to unfold though the naivety and innocence of a child's eyes. It felt this added to the power of the book, and made Krysta's experiences feel utterly raw, shocking and devastating. I also loved the way in which Krysta's voice matures throughout the book, as she grows older and her world more terrifying.

The other storyline is a captivating, dark mystery. The Vienna captured in these pages feels very real and provides chilling foreshadowing for the events of Krysta's timeline, like a small but telling window of European history. (The way in which it ultimately links to Krysta's story is very clever, but impossible to comment upon further without giving away any spoilers!)

I highly recommend this book, it's one of my favourites of the year so far. To sum up, there are a couple of quotes I would like to share. I found each to be very thought-provoking and also feel they capture the essence of the book very well:

“Yes, life is hard,” whispers Erika, “but knowing about other people, other civilisations, other ways of living, other places – that’s your escape route, a magical journey. Once you know about these things, no matter what happens, your mind can create stories to take you anywhere you want to go.”

“...soon I shall go from here and everything that I have seen or heard, felt, smelled, tasted, enjoyed, loved, will be extinguished and forgotten. There will be nothing left of me but a number on some ledger. And so, I give the Earth my memories.”