Review of The Hangman’s Daughter
1
Star
I chose
this book because of its being set in Bavaria (a part of Germany I have visited
and really like), because of its rather original concept (a hangman as
detective), and because of the many glowing reviews it has received. I feel
cheated.
Set in the
village of Schongau in 1659, it revolves around the death and/or disappearance
of several children. Martha Stechlin, the local midwife, is quickly suspected
of being a witch and thought to be responsible. Jakob Kuisl, the hangman, must
torture her to illicit a confession. He does not think she is guilty and sets
out to investigate with the help of Simon Fronwieser, a doctor and would-be
wooer of Magdalena, the hangman's daughter.
One major
flaw is the characters. There is an attempt to develop the hangman into a round
character: he is strong, both physically and mentally. We feel sympathy for him
because he possesses a heart of gold despite his occupation which makes him a
social pariah in the village. The problem is that he is too good to be true; he
is constantly performing last-minute, superhero-type rescues. Other characters
also tend to be extremes, extremes of goodness or evil. The chief villain
becomes known as the Devil, walks with a limp, and has a large facial scar,
skeletal features and soulless eyes. Such stereotypical characters are not
credible.
Plotting is
awkward. So the reader will not be able to identify the criminal mastermind
(sophomorically referred to as Moneybags), many characters are introduced. The
author equates confusing the reader with creating suspense. So as to not
disclose locations, people speak of meeting "at the assigned place."
The ending has all the hallmarks of a poor-quality ending. Even the title of
the book is a manipulation because Magdalena is neither a protagonist nor an
antagonist.
This book
is a translation from the German. It is a deplorable translation, full of
modern colloquialisms which are inappropriate to the historical setting. For
example, at one point the hangman says, "'If we don't have the true
culprit by then, they won't screw around for long, and the midwife will be done
for.'" Such linguistic anachronisms jar.
The
translator could be blamed for the weak writing, were it not for the needless
repetitions throughout. How often does the reader need to be told that the
contents of chamber pots were tossed out windows onto the street? The
description of "Jakob Kuisl clench[ing] his fist around a rock so hard
that the edges cut into his flesh (299)" is followed very closely by
further clarification should the reader have missed the point: "He had
clenched the rock so hard that its edges had dug into his flesh like knives
(301)."
The one
positive aspect of the book is the information it provides about life in
seventeenth-century Germany. Unfortunately, this information (on such topics as
social structure, leprosy, trade practices, and belief in witchcraft) is often
delivered in such a way that the book reads like a historical treatise rather
than a mystery. The author is a descendant of the Kuisl dynasty of
executioners, and, at times, the book seems just a showpiece for the historical
research done by Fritz Kuisl, the cousin of the author's grandmother.
To
conclude: original concept but poor 'execution'
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