Synopsis:
A lush fantasy retelling of Hansel and Gretel set in seventeenth-century Germany, perfect for fans of Brigid Kemmerer, Naomi Novik and Marissa Meyer.
Almost twenty years have passed since Greta and her brother Hans escaped the old woman’s cottage in the Black Forest, but there was no living happily ever after for them. The war has taken its toll on these lands, husbands and sons lost, a country impoverished. When the local Baron dies, his cruel, young and beautiful wife raises taxes and a Blood Tithe, ensuring that those who can’t pay off their debts, pay through servitude.
Wolves are gathering around the village and a group of mercenaries stalk the streets. A black bear has been sighted in the forest, but an encounter with it leaves Greta puzzled by its gentle and peaceful demeanour. Then there are the deaths; bodies have been found in the woods, their blood taken, their hearts removed.
As the villagers become more desperate, whispers of witchcraft abound. With Hans’ gambling debts forcing him to take the Blood Tithe, only the addictively-delicious gingerbread Greta makes – created with the help of a book stolen when they escaped their childhood captor – can offer a way out. But there’s a price to pay for using this blood skill, Tattermagic…and it could cost Greta everything, unless she can find another way to beat the horrors from her past and find a new path through the darkness…
Set in the Black Forest of Wurttemberg during the mid-17th Century, After the Forest is a stunning meld of love-story, fairy-tale, magic and history which is sure to appeal to fans of Naomi Novik, Rena Rossner and Kate Forsyth.
Review:
I was sent a copy of After the Forest in exchange for an honest review.
I’m a total sucker for re-telling of old stories set in dark & creepy forests, especially if you’re never sure if the main character is 100% good. And After the Forest ticked all of those boxes for me.
Set 15 or so years after Hans and Greta escape the witch, it’s less of a re-telling and more of a ‘what happened after’. For the first 100 – 150 pages I really wasn’t sure where the story was going. There was no clear plot thread but it still kept me turning the pages long after I’d have put other books down. I completely attest this to how vivid and enthralling Woods’ writing is. Around the 150 page mark it started to become clear where the story was going and where some of the other characters fit into the narrative. For context the UK hardback is just over 450 pages long so there’s still a lot of story to go once it gets started.
Featuring a few characters I’d call morally-grey and a romance sub-plot that simmers along in the background I found myself enthralled by After the Forest. I wanted to know what exactly was going on and there were far more fairytale elements than first meet the eye. There’s surprises throughout the entire book and that’s what makes it so compulsively readable.
I loved that Greta was just doing what was best for her and her brother through the entire story. Even if that meant listening to a grimoire stolen from the witch (let’s face it that’s not a force for good). Wood has used the original Hansel and Gretel fairytale as a springboard to craft a rich story that can stand all by itself. She takes the original characters and makes them vivid, while keeping them loyal to the source material.
This is the perfect autumnal read, so pick it up while the seasons are changing and the forests are deep and dark.
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