Gretel and the Dark

Gretel and the Dark is Eliza Granville''s dazzling novel of darkness, evil - and hope.

For fans of Markus Zusak''s The Book Thief and Guillermo del Toro''s Pan''s Labyrinth.

Vienna, 1899. Josef Breuer - celebrated psychoanalyst - is about to encounter his strangest case yet. Found by the lunatic asylum, thin, head shaved, she claims to have no name, no feelings - to be, in fact, not even human. Intrigued, Breuer determines to fathom the roots of her disturbance.

Years later, in Germany, we meet Krysta. Krysta''s Papa is busy working in the infirmary with the ''animal people'', so little Krysta plays alone, lost in the stories of Hansel and Gretel, the Pied Piper, and more. And when everything changes and the real world around her becomes as frightening as any fairy tale, Krysta finds that her imagination holds powers beyond what she could have ever guessed . . .

''A powerful, terrifying story. It is impossible not to find yourself racing through the pages. Heartbreaking and heart-racing.'' The Times

''Dark and intriguing . . . a highly clever, original book'' Daily Mail

Eliza Granville was born in Worcestershire and now lives in the Welsh Marches. She has had a life-long fascination with the enduring quality of fairytales and their symbolism, and the idea for Gretel and the Dark was sparked when she became interested in the emphasis placed on these stories during the Third Reich.