Napoli keeps the suspense taut up to the inevitable ending, an ending that brings both release and redemption. It is a story of her struggle living alone in an enchanted forest, slowly creating a cottage made of candy and other sweets.

The setting is gritty – one can almost feel the dirt under foot of the midwife’s small home, smell the smoke of the cook-fire, hear the shrill voice of her vicious neighbor as she taunts, “Ugly One.” This is a story of how a well-meaning healer spirals down into her own magic circle. The reader anxiously reads to uncover the “other side of the story” of Hansel and Gretel. Literary elements at work in the story: Donna Jo Napoli artfully weaves a tale that engages the curious. The Magic Circle is a story of the witch’s struggle to overcome evil and, through the innocent children Hansel and Gretel, find redemption and release. The “witch” is desperate to avoid this evil. The price she must pay is a wicked and insatiable appetite for human flesh. Through the corrupt influences of a neighbor, the midwife is drawn into demonic powers so that she might increase her ability as a healer. The reader learns the ugly and evil witch was once a kind and well respected midwife. The Magic Circle is a dark yet uplifting retelling of the Brothers Grimm story of Hansel and Gretel from the witch’s point of view. Summary: Author Donna Jo Napoli provides different voices and perspectives in her re-fashioning of well known fairy tales such as The Frog Prince and Hansel and Gretel.

The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli