But this book, you see, is about the true story of our little lost lambs. (Okay, it's a fiction book, but go with me here). This book tells about the real little children and why and how they came to be lost in the woods. And, in this book, nothing is as you remember from the fairy tale that you read as a child.
First of all, the children's names aren't really Hansel and Gretel; in fact, we never learn what their real names are. They are given these names by their father in the first pages of the book because their real names would identify them as Jewish. As you might have guessed from that last statement, this story takes place during World War II, in Nazi occupied Poland. The book opens with the two children crammed into the sidecar of their father's motorcycle, fleeing the Nazis. In desperation, the father sends his children into the woods, telling them to find help. After re-naming his children, the father and the stepmother --- oh yes, there is a stepmother, but she is anything but wicked --- continue their frantic flight.
The book seamlessly weaves the tales of the father and stepmother (who meet up with resistance fighters) with the children, who do indeed meet an elderly woman living the woods --- but she is far from a witch. In fact, this woman is a midwife, an abortionist, a healer and is willing to hide the children from the Nazis who are occupying the village. The book tells of the how these characters survive (or don't survive) this terrifying and repugnant chapter of history.
One of the things that we enjoyed was who no one was as they seemed. Magda, the woman who welcomes the children into her home, is a good woman, trying to survive with very little. The head Nazi officer in the village is not a goose-stepping stereotype, but someone who sees himself as a soldier who just wants to get through this war and make it home. The children are not helpless victims, but strong characters who want to survive and live to be reunited with their family again.
Our group felt that setting the story in Poland, rather than Germany, was an effective strategy. Much of what is taught about World War II focuses on Germany or occupied Paris; we don't seem to hear too much about our Polish friends and what they endured.
Quite simply, this is a lovely book. Don't let childhood fears scare you off, as you won't find any scary witches or houses made of gumdrops. What you will find are the stories of people who are thrown together by choice or circumstance and who must survive together and do what they have to do, even if it means hiding children in an oven to save them. It will be a long time before I forget this moving tale