Gretel
Christopher Coleman
October, 2015
Reviewed by Jess Landry
Hansel and Gretel, the classic original story from the Brothers Grimm, follows a brother and sister led astray in the woods. They use bread crumbs to mark their way home, but end up finding the delicious-looking candy house of a witch, one with a particularly healthy appetite. Eventually they give the old hag a taste of her own medicine, and all’s well that ends well. Though the idea behind Gretel is based on the classic fairy tale, this re-imagining becomes a whole other monster, and that’s a wonderful thing.
The beginning of the novel takes readers through the mind of the witch (minus the candy house) – she’s in dire need of a potion, one that will restore her youth and let her live a long, long life. But in order to create that potion, she needs a healthy specimen – someone with some good internal organs, a.k.a. the key ingredients. Around the same time that the witch is plotting, Anika Morgan finds herself wandering the woods after veering off the road and crashing her car. As fate (or something else?) would have it, her path crosses with that of the witch and she’s taken hostage while the hag ripens her up for harvesting. When Anika doesn’t make it home on time, her family takes it upon themselves to search for her. What follows is a story that intertwines three strong narratives: that of the witch, of Anika Morgan, and of her 14-year-old daughter, Gretel.
Coleman has a knack for writing strong characters, and the women in Gretel are what drive this novel with each one bringing their own unique traits to the table. Gretel is young and naive, but a tough cookie. Although everyone around her comes to believe that her mother is dead, never once does she falter in her belief that she’s alive, and she does everything within her power to prove them wrong. Anika, though beaten and bloodied, has a strong will (something she passed down to her daughter) and she does what she can to stay alive and make it home to her family. When it comes to the witch, she’s the villain readers love to hate. Hints of her backstory make it into the pages of Gretel, an element that adds a great depth to the character. Though the whole story more often than not follows the titular heroine, all three women get their chance to shine, and shine they do.
Coleman’s novel is a captivating re-imagining of the classic fairy tale, with more than enough twists to keep readers guessing. There’s much more to Gretel than meets the eye, but to unlock all its mysteries, you’ll have to read it.
