Gretel and The Dark Review

Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville



Gretel and the Dark is Eliza Granville's dazzling novel of darkness, evil - and hope.Vienna, 1899.

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 . . .

Eliza Granville was born in Worcestershire and currently lives in Bath. She has had a life-long fascination with the enduring quality of fairytales and their symbolism, and the idea for Gretel and the Dark was sparked when she became interested in the emphasis placed on these stories during the Third Reich. Gretel and the Dark is her first novel to be published by a major publisher.


Claires Review 3 of 5 Stars

I found Gretel and the Dark a very hard book to read. The language used was very hard for me and I found myself confused with what was happening a lot of the time. The book was extreme dark and I found some of the parts difficult to read because of the nature of them as well as the language. That said I pushed on hoping that things would get better, and at the end all the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place more which did improve the story slightly for me. 

This is not a bad read at all but I think it just wasn't one for me, although I can see why some would find it enjoyable, I just seemed to struggle with it. This is definitely a book that you need to read yourself to make a judgement rather than going on the opinions on others.

Thank you to Penguin, for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.