“This is a bold book with a great deal of depth and mischief to it that makes you think how astonishing it would be to have our parents sit up with us for a whole night and tell us in fine detail what they have lived.”

 

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

In her latest book, the author who seems to have a preference for rewriting fairy tales this time calls upon the Hansel and Gretel tale for her reference.

The story surrounds a family. The grandmother Margot, the mother Harriet and the daughter Perdita. Perdita is in the hospital having had an adverse reaction to the families famous gingerbread recipe. While there, she insists that her mother give her the family history.

The mother does so, telling her about the country she came from, Druhastrana, a place that may or may not exist, and about the gingerbread which is so important to their lives. Many characters will appear, including Gretel. The stories are sometimes interesting, though at times in my opinion they don’t necessarily move the story forward. In fact, I have to admit that I struggled with this book, seeming to lose my concentration on the story.

I had read the authors last book, Boy, Snow, Bird which I truly enjoyed reading, but this book for some reason I had trouble keeping my focus on. To be fair I checked out other reviews for major publications and they were very favorable to the author so maybe this one was just not to my liking. So, to those who are familiar with the author I would say go ahead and read it. For others, I would say this book is for special tastes and so I would not recommend it.

 

Reviewed by:

Richard Franco

Added 17th June 2019

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Richard Franco