After the Forest - Kell Woods
Summary
Greta and Hans live in the small town of Wurttemberg – mid-17th century. Fifteen years after the incident, the kids that survived the evil witch in the forest reconstructed their lives, residing in the house that once belonged to their father. Navigating trough life as paria, Greta encounters a lot of difficulties. Between betrayals, magic and a dark past to hide, Greta is not ready for what was coming for her…
My review
After the Forest is not a retelling of Hansel and Gretel story, but more an attempt to imagine how their future would be, after the dramatic episode that changed their lives forever.
Kell Woods takes an interesting point of view, showing the damages that tales stories could do to individuals. While trying to overcome the trauma of their father abandonment, Greta encounter some difficulties that are really interesting to analyze from a psychological point of view. It also questions the idea of ‘happy ending’, common in tales.
The book really reads itself. The writing is beautiful and never boring. I liked the complexity of Greta’s character developing. We really get into her head, and see how she process trauma, but also how she interiorized violence.
I’m usually not a fan of this type of book (tales retelling or historical fiction), but this one really changed my mind. I would read other books written by Kell Woods with great pleasure !
Key words: historic fantasy – historical setting – magic – witch trials.