Briar Rose in Into the Forest

Nov 05, 2009 Julia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, based-on-folksong-myth, reread, upstate-ny-setting-moment-idea, holocaust, glbtq, best-books-i-read-in-2010

"The war was filled with such unbelievable stories. This man hid in the cupboard of his neighor's house for the entire war. That one was killed walking his dog. This woman missed her train and it was blown up. That woman begged a ride and was murdered. This child lived safely for three years in the woods. That one had its brains slammed against the camp's stone wall. There is nothing that is not believable in this world."

To describe the Shoah, what other words are there, but the fantastic?

So ma "The war was filled with such unbelievable stories. This man hid in the cupboard of his neighor's house for the entire war. That one was killed walking his dog. This woman missed her train and it was blown up. That woman begged a ride and was murdered. This child lived safely for three years in the woods. That one had its brains slammed against the camp's stone wall. There is nothing that is not believable in this world."

To describe the Shoah, what other words are there, but the fantastic?

So many people would not, could not tell their stories of this time, including my father, that this story of Gemma whose story so closely mirrors Sleeping Beauty that she takes the name and story for herself...

Here's my thoughts about the book when I first read tne book in June of 1998:

What at first blush sounds stupid, even appalling, --a fairy tale about the Holocaust? -- turns out to be lyrical, breathtaking and heroic. Briar Rose, another name for Sleeping Beauty, is the story Gemma always told her granddaughters. After she dies her youngest goes off in search of the truth of who her grandmother was. To Gemma, the fairy tale was no metaphor, but the only truth she knew. She was in Chelmno extermination camp built on an old Schloss or castle. She was rescued from a pit after being gassed. She was “kissed” (given mouth to mouth) by a member of the Polish nobility nicknamed Prince who was a partisan. She married and got pregnant by another partisan who was killed. She immigrated to America, ending up at Fort Oswego. She does not live happily ever after, but she and her daughter and her granddaughters do live. It is a beautiful story.
“The old woman opened her eyes. “I was the princess in the castle in the sleeping woods. And there came a great dark mist and we all fell asleep. But the prince kissed me awake. Only me.”
“Yes, Gemma,” Becca replied soothingly.
…”That castle is yours. It is all I have to leave you. You must find it. The castle in the sleeping woods. Promise me…Promise me you will find the castle. Promise me you will find the prince. Promise me you will find the maker of the spells.”

...more

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