The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant (Epub)

Description

On the day Katharina Linden disappears, Pia is the last person to see her alive. Terror is spreading through the town. How could a ten-year-old girl vanish in a place where everybody knows everybody else?

Pia is determined to find out what happened to Katharina.

But then the next girl disappears . . .

User’s Reviews

Review “Both a wonderful first novel, and a strange, haunting modern fairytale, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is that rare beast: a book that reawakens in adults the childhood terror of the bogeyman, and confirms for children that the world is an infinitely stranger place than adults might like to pretend . . .” —John Connolly, New York Times author of The Reapers”The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is a stunning debut with a richly evoked setting, a smart sympathetic heroine, and the best opening line for a novel I’ve ever read. Helen Grant conjures a tale of evil in rural Germany that would make the Brothers Grimm jealous!’ —Rick Riordan, New York Times author of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series”Dark and deadly as the original Grimm’s German folktales, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden hides its menace behind the exquisitely charming narrator, Pia, an unforgettable child of the first order.” —Keith Donohue, author of The Stolen Child and Angels of Destruction –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Amazon.com Review Helen Grant on The Vanishing of Katharina Linden I’m often asked “What inspired you to write The Vanishing of Katharina Linden?” I never get tired of this particular question, because it’s a subject that lies very close to my heart. The book was inspired by the little town of Bad Münstereifel in Germany. It’s the setting of The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, and it’s not a fictional place-–it’s a real town, and we lived there for seven wonderful years. When we moved to Bad Münstereifel in 2001 my husband was anxious that I would be bored. “You can walk from one end of the town to the other in about two minutes,” he said. Actually I found Bad Münstereifel the most fascinating place. It is like stepping into the past. There are cobbled streets and old half-timbered houses, beautiful old churches and creepy castles. I’ve always loved folk tales and legends, and Bad Münstereifel has lots of those. The stories which Herr Schiller tells to Pia (the heroine) in the book are all genuine Bad Münstereifel folk tales. They were collected and published around 1910 by a local priest called Father Krause. I came across some of the stories in anthologies and went to read the originals at a library in Düren. They were written in old-fashioned German and printed in the Gothic type that was very popular in Germany at that time, which made it extremely difficult to read them! But I persevered because it was such an amazing journey of discovery for me. There was one particular character who really stood out, and that was “Unshockable Hans”, the miller who was not afraid of anything, even witches and ghosts. There are a number of stories about him. He seemed to represent the spirit of the town–-forthright, God-fearing and intrepid. I wanted him to be a central character in my book. I liked the idea that the heroine, Pia, would be inspired by his bravery to do her own investigations into the disappearances in her home town. People sometimes ask me about the ending of the book, as it isn’t entirely a happy one for Pia, given her family situation. I think this reflects my own feelings about having to leave Bad Münstereifel. I loved living there so much, but I always knew that one day we would have to leave. That sadness is part of my love for the town, and Pia’s too. I’d like to think that The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is a memorial to a wonderful place and time in my life. (Photo © Gordon Grant and William Bond) –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ This is the first remotely ‘suspenseful’ or ‘dark’ book I’ve ever read… and the only reason I went for it, was because previous reviewers said it wasn’t THAT suspenseful or dark. This isn’t my genre, at all. That being said, I enjoyed the author’s style of writing the most. The story was just okay for me but I really liked Pia’s pov. The middle was just a little slow and I found myself wishing the excitement of the last few chapters, had been carried throughout the entire story. I didn’t really know what to expect, but the ending did surprise me probably because I’m not much of a mystery reader. I’m not sure who I’d recommend this to, because it does have that creepy element and I don’t know many people who frequent this genre. I just read it to push myself out of my comfort zone. I have to say though… this little push to read something new, makes me curious about reading other dark/horror/suspenseful books so I guess it worked out.

⭐ There is much to admire and enjoy in this story. The first person narration is engaging and, at times, funny. The setting in a small, traditional German town that preserves and celebrates tradition is vividly described. But, there is an uneasy attempt to make this into an adult fairy tale, which ultimately didn’t work for me. The long, drawn out scenes of horrific discovery are so scary and so terrible that it strained credibility that two 11 year old children would recover without psychological scars, yet the ending blithely passes over any lingering memories of the events. Since this is a first novel, I think it would have benefited from some re-writing to tighten some of the plot that seemed to wrap up too conveniently.

⭐ An entertaining story worth reading. I was suspicious of the correct person, and that worried me all the more! I did feel the young girl’s vocabulary was too mature for her age, though.

⭐ Good read. I enjoyed the setting and the German phrases interspersed. Very eloquent description of what’s going on inside Pia’s mind. The tales within will scare you some and at the end you will realize what it’s all about. Gave me a good book hangover. Now I want to go to Bad M.

⭐ This book started out great! I loved the setting and the description of the town. I really liked the characters and the descriptions of the rituals. Much of the folklore (which I always love in stories) was just fabulous and the holidays and much of the dialog reminded me so much of my own German grandma. The town itself became a character on its own.But then about two-thirds of the way through something happened. It deteriorated into a slightly more colorful Nancy Drew mystery–okay, but certainly a let down from the beginning!The author is a gifted writer and she did a great job of setting up an intriguing plot. I give it an extra star just for the beautiful intermingling of folktales. But I wish she had made the mystery more compatible with the rest of the story. Plus I really liked Wolfgang and Pia seemed to adore him and he just got dropped from the story. This is a good book if you appreciate colorful settings, rituals, and mythology, but as a mystery it was rather flat.

⭐ This clever mix of mystery and a child’s imaginations kept me reading. The mix of typical family troubles were well blended with German village life and a horrible murder mystery. As viewed by the young girl, Pia, a year in her life unfolds.

⭐ I enjoyed this book – not quite what I expected (which I like),keeps you reading until the “A-Ha!” moment. I had guessed the bad-guy a little earlier, but it was fun getting to the part where everyone else figured it out.

⭐ This was a wonderful read. The book had a haunting fairy tale quality and became very suspenseful. It was a fresh perspective on the horror genre. I found it well written and understated.

⭐ In German folklore, culture and language. Well done character development of children. Enjoyed contrast between young and old. Both viewpoints showcased believably.

⭐ I loved this quirky story. Coming from an Austrian background I enjoyed the language and cultural references. Who knew a murder mystery could be funny.

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