After the Forest

Kell Woods

HarperColllins

Otago Daily Times, January 13th 2024

From Angela Carter’s Bloody Chamber to Gregory MacDonald’s Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, the genre of ‘adultified’ fairytale is diverse and entertaining. At its best, such retellings are a testament to both the child within and the power of fable as a vehicle for broader socio-political or historical commentary. Australian Kell Woods’ debut novel After the Forest is a delightful addition to the oeuvre. 

Rather than present the classic story of Hansel and Gretel from an alternative or modernised perspective, Woods takes us back to 17^th Century Lindenfeld, a village in the Duchy of Württemberg, to explore what became of the siblings after their return.  As you might imagine, their experiences have left lasting damage both personally and socially. Unable to overcome the shame of having been saved by his sister rather than the other way around, Hans spends his days drinking and gambling, while Greta not only blames herself for their mother’s death but is haunted by knowing she is the sort of person who could push an old woman into the fire and watch her die. She is also viewed with suspicion by her neighbours, her red hair and history invoked as evidence she, too, is a witch.  Of course, it doesn’t help that the delicious gingerbread she sells to earn a living gains a little something extra from the grimoire she bought back from the witch’s cottage, but she has friends within the community and still considers Lindenfeld her home. Now, however, 15 years after escaping the witch’s clutches, a series of strange and disturbing developments have caused the ever-present swirl of rumours and superstition around her to coalesce into more serious accusations. First is the black bear she encounters while scavenging honey to sweeten her baking, then the wolves that have made the surrounding woods a place of fear and danger. There is the Tyrolean stranger whom Greta finds near her favourite bathing spot, and the mercenaries hired to protect Lindenfeld from soldiers demobbed after the Thirty Years War. And, as if this weren’t enough, the sudden death of the Baron shortly after his marriage much younger woman, and his widow’s subsequent imposition of crippling tithes on the surrounding dependencies, has left the village angry and looking for someone to blame. After years of denying her true nature, Greta is forced to explore the extent of her powers and choose a path that could end in either rescue or ruin.

Although Hansel and Gretel scaffolds Woods’ narrative, the story is woven through with strands of other well-known tales, from Rose Red and Snow White to Sleeping Beauty. And, despite its fantastical elements – talking books, poisoned apples, curses, and characters who can transform from man to beast – After the Forest is firmly anchored in time and place. As ever, women bear the brunt of men’s anger and suspicion, while the village’s setting and customs, its inhabitants’ beliefs and the details of day-to-day existence are gritty and believable, adding depth and complexity to a truly enchanting novel.