The Hangman's Daughter

I didn't know too much about this book before I started it, and I probably should've researched it a little more thoroughly. I like historical fiction a lot, and while crime thrillers aren't my favorite type of books, I don't dislike them. But I really struggled to finish this book.

Despite the English title, the hangman is the main character here, and he is an unbelievably tough guy. I understand some people like that in a hero, and I used to seek out books like that too, but it just isn't my thing anymore. I would not say he's one-dimensional or even totally sympathetic. One of the things I do like about the book is that most of the major characters are a bit morally grey. He's just overpowered.

The plot is pretty good; it kept me guessing, and some of the revelations really surprised me, even near the end. The hangman's daughter, Magdalena, is important and has some point-of-view sections, but her suitor Zimon is much more central to the plot. He isn't a tough guy type of character at all, which does help to balance out the narrative, but he comes across as kind of whiny, compared to the hangman. Magdalena's in peril several times (threatened with rape), and I know it's a common plot device in thrillers that things are serious because female characters are in danger. But it's a little irritating to read, especially since I'm not really used to this genre.

I also feel like this translation needed one more pass by an editor who was a native English speaker. The phrasing is so often awkward that it took me out of the story.

It's interesting that the author wrote about his ancestors, and overall, I'm glad I read this book. I learned a lot about the function of hangmen, as well as doctors and midwives, in this time and place. It would make a good movie or TV show. I can understand why it's such a popular book, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to readers who have slightly different tastes than my own.

I spent my entire day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival yesterday. (And man, do my feet hurt!) But it was an absolute blast; we watched the three sirens of “Sirena” sing some haunting melodies (and “steal” my husband's soul and eat it as part of their act!), watched a couple of hilarious comedy shows (Fight School slayed me) and watched the final round of jousting. Did you know jousting is Maryland's official sport? How cool is that?

On the way to the fair I finished The Hangman's Daughter. The Hangman's Daughter was originally written in German by Oliver Pötzsch, but my version was translated to English by Lee Chadeayne. I didn't realize until I read the “About the Author” followed by “About the Translator” that it wasn't written originally in English! It flowed exceptionally well. The story revolves around the mysterious deaths of three children, the midwife the town wants to pin it on, and a mystery surrounding the sabotage of the leper house being built just outside the walls of the town. The Hangman is actually one of the most sympathetic characters in the story, which I found unique. Usually the executioner/torturer is painted as evil. Along with his daughter and the town doctor's son, an accomplished doctor himself, they attempt to solve the mystery of who's killing children before the town can convict and sentence the midwife.

I REALLY enjoyed this book, and I will probably try to track down other English translations of this author's work. I don't read too many mysteries (though I do have a few more in the queue at the moment) but this book really swept me up and carried me along for the ride. It's set in 17th century Bavaria, 70 years after the last witch craze. Jakob Kuisl is the town's Hangman, and, as it turns out, one of the author's ancestors! The author apparently wrote the novel as a way of connecting with his roots; he is descended from the Kuisls, who were Hangmen for generations.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

Absolutely gripped for 3/4 of the story, but the ending left me dissatisfied. Also, I don't understand why it's called “The Hangman's Daughter” when she doesn't do anything except serve as sexual interest to other characters. So 4 stars is a little high, really more like 3.5, but a galloping plot really counts for a lot with me. Also, I like the postscript where the author recounts his connection to this tale.

Whether one agrees with it or not, there's no denying that the death penalty has a long history. Modern day executioners push a vial of potassium chloride into an IV line and, if everything goes right, wait for the heart to stop. But once upon a time, a death sentence meant beheading or hanging (or worse, like drawing and quartering). The Hangman's Daughter begins with a messy execution in 1600s Bavaria (in modern day Germany): young Jakob Kuisl is supposed to be helping his father, the hangman, with a beheading that ends up terribly botched. It's a grim, moody scene that sets the stage for a dark story.

But after the opening prologue described above and the first scene of the story, in which a young boy is rescued from a raging river at great danger, only to be discovered to be already dying from a blow to the head, the plot stalls out considerably. The boy has a crude tattoo that the townspeople decide indicates witchcraft, so the local midwife is promptly accused and imprisoned awaiting torture and execution. Jakob, now himself the hangman (and torturer, and proto-pharmacist...he wears a lot of hats) is convinced of her innocence and joins forces with Simon, the town doctor's son, to figure out who actually committed these crimes (the murder of the first child is followed by the murder of two other children and some property destruction to boot). They're racing against time as hysteria and pressure to convict and burn the witch grow daily.

Where is the titular hangman's daughter in all this, you might ask? Excellent question! Magdalena is very much a secondary part of the story, and the book could easily be rewritten without her character being missed for a second. She's having a love affair with Simon, which we're continually reminded cannot end in marriage because her father's profession renders her unclean. In the scheme of things that don't quite work about this book, though, the title is small change.

While Jakob Kuisl, as a hangman who studies science and works as a healer when he's not torturing and executing, is an interesting character, no one else in the book has much depth. Simon and Magdalena are flat “young lovers”, and the various townspeople are even more one-note: officious, or anachronistically fair-minded, or superstitious, no one is a whole person. And speaking of anachronisms, holy smokes is the language in this historical novel completely out of whack. Obviously as a non-German-speaker I read it in translation and I hope the issue was poor translation, otherwise there's just not even an attempt to make language the slightest bit accurate to the time. There's also a ton of repetitious phrasing, of phrases that are unusual enough that it's really noticeable. These writing/translation problems are so jarring that they take you straight out of the world of the novel. Other than that, there are about 100 more pages of the book than there is plot to fill it, so it drags on pretty badly. At the end of the day, it's just not a very good book.