The book description does not do justice to this incredible novel. This is really a coming of age tale for the protagonist, the oldest of three brothers. Their mother died in a terrorist bombing on Easter, and now it is Christmas, the first Christmas without Mum. And Dad has traveled to a conference in America, leaving the boys and their grandmother to celebrate the holidays amid their loss. The family lives on the campus of a private school, of which the father is headmaster, and the son has recently discovered a room filled with old letters dating back to the Nazi rise to power: letters from German Jews begging the school to admit and protect their children. Meanwhile, a new group of terrorists has taken another school captive, holding the children and teachers hostage. And amidst all this, it turns out that Grandmum is a refugee from the Nazi era, before which she was a major German (Jewish) artist.So Rushforth layers horror upon horror, uniting past and present, all coming to a head at this season of "peace on earth, goodwill toward men." Woven throughout the novel is a telling and retelling of "Hansel and Gretel," with the witch's oven more and more resembling the death ovens of the concentration camps.A man not yet a man must learn to face life's horrors without succumbing to despair. And he must come to see the place of his personal loss within the scope of world history. Most importantly, he learns the precious joys of love, and the power of love to overcome. This last statement may sound corny and trite, but in Rushforth's hands, the love is as real as the ever-present evil, and goodness does overcome evil. A tender, disturbing, incredible book.
What a surprisingly powerful novel! I really enjoyed it, but I must admit that I was left wanting more at the end. It is a story told in snippets, in gasping breaths almost. Some parts were more emotional than others, I never actually cried, just felt on the verge of tears several times. It was a good book, but i wanted to hear more of Lilli's story. And more of their mother's. I think this would be a good book for a book club because of the many layers and the fairy tale aspect as well. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest of books to find. All in all, I liked it a lot!
Do You like book Kindergarten (2006)?
I was reminded of this book today after seeing a live broadcast of the Met's Hansel and Gretel in a local theater. This production was so much darker than most, and seemed (to me at least) to be set in the 30s.Kindergarten takes place in the 70s presumably, the children's mother having been recently killed in a terrorist attack at the Rome airport. But Rushforth weaves together the stories of these children, their grandmother (a Jew driven from Germany to England with the rise of the Nazis), the stories of children who also escaped and of those who went to the ovens, with parts of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, especially Hansel and Gretel. The grandmother had been an illustrator for some of the fairy tales in Germany, and is still a painter.This is a dark book. The version of Hansel and Gretel retold in it ends so: "Inside the house, she picked up Gretel's clothes and hair, and added the children's clothes to all the others in the room in the corridor. She put Gretel's chain and Hansel's ring in the room with all the other jewelry, and then walked back into the kitchen, and towards the oven, drooling with anticipation. Today was going to be a feast day.She is living there still, happy and contented, living in perfect comfort and prosperity, waiting for the children who come through the forest."But the last thing in the book is a happier version, and Rushforth combines history, myth and art in this novel to create a feeling of hope, however, fragile, in the end.Kindergarten won the Hawthornden Prize in England.
—Shawn
