The Stuff:
Hänsel and Gretal have grown up and now live in the Black Forest at the close of The Thirty Years War. Rumors abound of Greta’s childhood doings with the old crone in the woods—did she really push that old woman into the oven?—but, for the most part, the villagers accept her. She bakes the best gingerbread.
She uses a recipe in a book recovered from the crone who kept her and Hans when they were children. It talks to her like a naggy roommate or older sister at times. It also tempts her—that gingerbread could do so much more if she added blood. Greta refuses to do this. People like her gingerbread just the way it is.
She also has disturbing dreams, which she thinks involve the death of her mother. She often blames herself for her mother’s death. If she and Hans had come home when they were supposed to, their mother wouldn’t have gone looking for them in the woods, and the wolves wouldn’t have torn her to pieces.
Hans likes to drink and gamble. To her dismay, Greta discovers Hans’s gambling debts are coming due to the local loan shark. In his generosity, he’s willing to take her into his home as a servant, pawing at her while he explains this magnanimous offer.
She chooses to bake gingerbread and sell a whole slew of it at the upcoming Walpurgis festival to cover the staggering amount Hans owes.
On the heels of this comes the news that the local baron dies. The widowed baroness—much younger than her late husband— will increase the taxes. If anyone can’t pay, she understands and will accept labor—a “Blood Tithe”—in its place.
Thoughts:
This is a dark take on an already dark story. Each chapter begins with a few paragraphs dedicated to a retelling of Snow White and Red Rose. The story is not hard to follow, and the two storylines meet up toward the end of the book.
Some things are obvious. When Greta is out gathering honey, she comes across a bear. No one has seen a bear in the area for decades. Instead of attacking her, the bear licks honey off her fingers. She doesn’t report its presence to the town authorities because she’s seen its eyes. The bear is not just any old bear.
The dialogue between the grimoire and Greta is amusing. The book nags and teases her, much like a roommate/older sister/aunt might. This needling takes a sinister turn later, however. Greta has met a “greenwitch,” Mira, and understands the difference between “greenmagic” and “tattermagic.” Tattermagic exacts a price, often pain.
Dark forces want her for their own ends. At the same time, the villagers, long suspicious that Greta was a witch (why is that gingerbread so good? What happened with that crone?), have new reasons to believe she’s dabbled in things she ought not to have. They condemn her to the stake—after a fair trial, of course. They’re not savages.
So, how does Greta deal with the past she doesn’t remember clearly? Or the sense of guilt for causing her mother’s death? With knowledge of the imperfections of those who should have been looking out for her?
I feel compelled to note a scene in chapter 25 dealing with bearbaiting in sad detail. This involves not only torturing a chained bear but also the wounding and death of a succession of dogs. While no real animals were hurt—obviously—it is unpleasant to read.
I enjoyed this book, even with a couple of see-it-coming-from-a-mile-aways. One of the strengths was that author Woods fleshes out her characters. Even the bad guys are bad for a reason. Drunken bum Hans could have been a throwaway, a jerk who refused to grow up, and a millstone around his sister’s neck, but the reader understands he’s haunted by many of the same things that haunt Greta.
At the same time, the book is quite dark—no rainbows or burying of the hatchet. If the reader can accept that, they will probably like this book.
Title: After the Forest
Author: Kell Woods
First published: 2023
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 