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The Magic Circle Donna Jo Napoli Books

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The Magic Circle Donna Jo Napoli Books

This book kept me engaged and left me in awe. I do not care to read about the supernatural. Specifically, anything relating to demons or the devil. However, I would recommend this book based on its ability to keep me engaged and give vivid details. Their are descriptions that are most often left out of other books, that I found in this one.


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The Magic Circle Donna Jo Napoli Books Reviews

The Magic Circle is a re-visioning of the classic children's story Hansel and Gretel which seeks to entertain the reader by telling the story of how the child eating witch with the confectionary hut, isolated from the world came to be. Napoli's The Magic Circle is short (barely over 100 pages) but it manages to be powerful, poignant and more than a little bittersweet as she takes what were common beliefs of the time (medieval Europe) and weaves a story that feels like it could actually have happened. Further, this is the witches' story, not the story of Hansel and Gretel. Napoli's version dovetails nicely with the traditional telling that most of us are familiar with...it begins well before we ever meet Hansel and Gretel and ends just as their part of the story is taking off...and as such, in this book we never get to really know them at all...but we do get to know The Ugly One (as the witch is known by her community) and hear her story as she fights to be a good Christian and to do what she believes is right.

The protagonist here (The Ugly One) starts out as a simple midwife who enjoys her work and appreciates beautiful things in life (the beauty she will never have herself) and she works long and hard to support her daughter (who is beautiful where her mother is not). Through the somewhat deceptive nagging of her friend Bala, The Ugly One is tempted (through pride) to take on more varied types of healing work. As the story progresses she is transformed from a simple midwife and healer to a sorceress, working within a magic circle and controlling demons to perform her healing magic and she quite successful for 9 years...until she becomes tempted by an object she desires...tempted to break the magic circle and herein she becomes vulnerable to the revenge of the demons she previously controlled and used for her good purposes. In the last third of the story, her pride leads to her downfall...she transforms once again from Sorceress to Witch (as in the diabolic satanic child eating witch feared in medieval times) and details her struggles to withstand the temptations that torment her once she is transformed into a diabolic witch.

This story is all about temptation, personal pride, courage and ultimately redemption and readers will delight in the witch's story from humble beginning to demonic ending. My only complaint is that I KNOW this story wasn't about Hansel and Gretel, but they came so late in the story that we really never go to know them at all and it's hard to enjoy the ending without knowing them somewhat better than we get to here in this story. Overall, I give The Magic Circle 4 stars, it's a magnificently dark retelling of the classic Hansel and Gretel story that really draws the reader along, I know I couldn't put it down once I'd started it (read it in one sitting, which I have to admit was easy since it's so short). Highly enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it for young adult readers (ages 12 and up) and for adults who enjoy fairytale adaptations.
Donna Jo Napoli's trademark technique of fleshing out a fairytale is in fine display in "The Magic Circle," her retelling of "Hansel and Gretel". Napoli's stories often reveal motivations behind some of the action that takes place in the traditional fairytales, reasoning out some of the fantastic elements and explaining the behaviour of the familiar characters; which usually results in the villain becoming more sympathetic and understandable. Such is certainly the case in "The Magic Circle", in which she explores the background of Hansel and Gretel's wicked witch.

The hunchback woman is known as the Ugly One by all her neighbours, but has the gift of healing which she uses to aid pregnant women and sick people in her medieval Europe community. She is the proud mother of a beautiful little girl called Asa, and enjoys her simple life as midwife in her country cottage. But her friend Bala has other ideas, getting her work with wealthy families and in researching demonic activity so that Ugly One may earn some more money - with much of the proceeds going to Bala of course.

Ugly One is unsure about extending her talents to exclude exorcisms, knowing the danger is extremely great, but as a devout Christian and a healer she feels compelled to comply with Bala's wishes - surely God will aid her, and no harm will come to her if she places herself within a magic circle that will protect her from the demons' tricks. After cleansing a little boy from a demon's influence, Ugly One knows that she has found her new calling in life.

But once several years pass, her confidence in her own abilities grow and in a mistake that will haunt her forever, she is careless with the protective magic circle. What follows is an escalating series of events that has her transformed into a witch by the vengeful demons and tied to a stake by the terrified villagers. Bartering with the demons for her daughter's life, Ugly One manages to use her newfound malevolent powers to escape and hide in the forest.

In Napoli's book the term `witch' is used in the traditional Christian sense, not the New Age one, so be prepared for a negative usage of the word (personally I found it quite refreshing this way - evil witches are so rare these days!) However, it's not so black and white, for though Ugly One can no longer shed tears, bleed or sleep, has demons whispering in her ears and an appetite for children, she is determined to not give in to her weaknesses. Living in isolation, she manages to keep the demons at bay - until she hears the voices of two lost children outside her home...

Napoli's story is poignant and thought-provoking, as she raises questions concerning the nature of evil, the will of God and the strength of the individual against temptation. Like all her other books, her spin on a traditional folktale is fascinating and will change your perception of "Hansel and Gretel" forever. Although her interpretation of the gingerbread house is a little weak and a revelation concerning Bala is raised only to be ignored, "The Magic Circle" is an intriguing little book. The demons and magical rituals mentioned are all based in real Biblical and Occult study (so you'll learn something practical alongside the retold fairytale!) and its length means you can probably finish it within a day. Though it is not my favourite Napoli novel (that would have to be "Zel" and "Spinners"), "The Magic Circle" is a great little read.
A retelling of the fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, but this time from the witch's point of view. Great book, came in as described.
Love it
I read this as an adolescent and it stuck with me forever. Wonder "underpinnings" tale behind the "witch" of Hansel and Gretel.
I enjoyed the book. I had to read it for a college class on children's literature. Kinda shocked that it is a children's book because I know that if I read this as a child I would be a little terrified at the mentions of demons.
This book kept me engaged and left me in awe. I do not care to read about the supernatural. Specifically, anything relating to demons or the devil. However, I would recommend this book based on its ability to keep me engaged and give vivid details. Their are descriptions that are most often left out of other books, that I found in this one.