A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (audio)
Unabridged audiobook on 4 compact discs, 4.75 hours. Read by Johnny Heller. Recorded Books, 2011.
This is the story of Hansel and Gretel. Wait. You say you’ve heard this one before? Not on your life! Any student of fairy and folk tales will explain there are lots of variations within and between cultures. These have, after all, descended from an oral tradition. Then came Disney. But I won’t go there. That’s stuff for a whole nother post.
Some years ago, I discovered novel length fairy tale retellings via Donna Jo Napoli (Zel, Beast, Bound and others), Debbie Viguie (Midnight Pearls and others), Stephanie Spinner (Quiver, Quicksilver and others [okay, so these are technically myths, but they are good!]) and others. Even Gary D. Schmidt covered Rumpelstilskin in Straw into Gold.
In Gidwitz’s hands, twins Hansel and Gretel are born, not to a lowly woodcutter, but to a king and queen. The king needs to behead them in order to make retribution for a wrong they committed to a faithful servant. Once re-headed, the twins run away because they can’t find it in their hearts to forgive their parents since they believe in those dear little hearts that parents should not kill or harm their children. They go in search of the perfect parents who will love and protect them.
Of course they come across a lovely little edible house; but then Gidwitz has them roam the forest, have a falling-out, get separated, suffer individually (Hansel goes to hell and Gretel has a nasty encounter with...never mind.) before reuniting and ultimately returning home to the king and queen. The book is somewhat episodic as each chapter can sort of stand on its own as a fairy tale of sorts. Students familiar with Grimm will recognize lesser-known tales each bloodier than the last. So this story is not for the faint-of-heart.
The narrator is constantly breaking his own narration of H & G's tale to issue warnings and apologies about the ghastly gore that is about to come as well as commentary both wry and snarky. Johnny Heller's narration is brisk and engaging. This is the second audiobook I listened to him narrate and his voice and delivery remind me of someone but I can't put my finger on whom.
This is the author's debut. I'm looking forward to reading more by him. He's got a cool website where you can view a trailer for the book and learn more about the author and such.