The Hangman's Daughter (Reprint, Reissue) (Paperback) by Oliver Potzsch

Dimensions (Overall): 8.2 Inches (H) x 5.7 Inches (W) x 1.2 Inches (D)
Weight: 1 Pounds
Number of Pages: 435
Genre: Fiction + Literature Themes
Sub-Genre: Literary Genres + Types of Novels, Legal + Courtroom + Crime, Types of Characters, Religion + Beliefs
Format: Paperback
Publisher: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Author: Oliver Potzsch
Age Range: Adult
Language: English

About the Book

Set in the mid-1600s in the Bavarian town of Schongau, a hangman, Jakob Kuisl, is asked to find out whether an ominous tattoo found on a dying boy means that witchcraft has come to town in this first book of The Hangman's Daughter series.

Book Synopsis

Magdalena, the clever and headstrong daughter of Bavarian hangman Jakob Kuisl, lives with her father outside the village walls and is destined to be married off to another hangman's son--except that the town physician's son is hopelessly in love with her. And her father's wisdom and empathy are as unusual as his despised profession. It is 1659, the Thirty Years' War has finally ended, and there hasn't been a witchcraft mania in decades. But now, a drowning and gruesomely injured boy, tattooed with the mark of a witch, is pulled from a river and the villagers suspect the local midwife, Martha Stechlin.

Jakob Kuisl is charged with extracting a confession from her and torturing her until he gets one. Convinced she is innocent, he, Magdalena, and her would-be suitor to race against the clock to find the true killer. Approaching Walpurgisnacht, when witches are believed to dance in the forest and mate with the devil, another tattooed orphan is found dead and the town becomes frenzied. More than one person has spotted what looks like the devil--a man with a hand made only of bones. The hangman, his daughter, and the doctor's son face a terrifying and very real enemy.

Taking us back in history to a place where autopsies were blasphemous, coffee was an exotic drink, dried toads were the recommended remedy for the plague, and the devil was as real as anything, The Hangman's Daughter is the rollicking start to an exciting new series of historical mysteries, bringing to cinematic life the sights, sounds, and smells of seventeenth-century Bavaria, telling the engrossing story of a compassionate hangman who will live on in readers' imaginations long after they've put down the novel.

From the Back Cover

Simon turned the boy on his belly. With a vigorous tug he ripped open the shirt on the back as well. A groan went through the crowd.
Beneath one shoulder blade there was a palm-size sign of a kind that Simon had never seen before a washed-out purple circle with a cross protruding from the bottom:

For a moment, there was total silence on the pier. Then the first screams rose. Witchcraft! There s witchcraft involved! Somebody bawled: The witches have come back to Schongau! They re getting our kids!
"

Review Quotes

Readers who like a plot-driven story with identifiable heroes and villains will be drawn to this ambitious novel. And unlike some stories in the genre, The Hangman's Daughter only gets better as the climax approaches -- an exciting duel between the hangman and his nemesis. It truly delivers the thing so many of us look for in our novels: entertainment. --BookPage

This work seamlessly merges brutality and compassion, and its elegant plot, appealing characters and satisfying conclusion will keep the reader wide awake and turning pages well into the night. -- Shelf Awareness for Readers

The translator has done very well by the author; both setting and characters are vividly drawn, making for a compelling read . . . Based on the author's research into his own family history, this novel offers a rare glimpse into a less commonly seen historical setting. If you liked Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, give this a try. --Library Journal Xpress

[Pötzsch's] novel reads quite vividly . . . Based on the author's family history, this excellent story brings 17th-century Bavaria alive with all its fears, superstitions and politics. Jacob Kuisl is not your ordinary hangman, and readers will root for him and his search for the truth. There's enough 'unreality' in the evil of superstitions that this novel may appeal to fantasy readers, and the twists and turns of the plot will appeal to mystery fans.--School Library Journal

A brilliantly-researched and exciting story of a formative era of history when witches were hunted and the inquisitors had little belief in their methods beyond their effect in pacifying superstitious townspeople . . . Pötzsch, actually descended from a line of hangmen, delivers a fantastically fast-paced read, rife with details on the social and power structures in the town as well as dichotomy between university medicine and the traditional remedies, which are skillfully communicated through character interactions, particularly that of Magdalena and Simon. The shocking motivations from unlikely players provide for a twist that will leave readers admiring this complex tale from a talented new voice. --Publishers Weekly This novel has been popular in Germany since its 2008 publication there, and it's easy to see why . . . [Pötzsch] does an excellent job of telling the story and supplying the historical backdrop. And his characters . . . are extremely well drawn and believable. Kudos, too, to translator Chadeayne, who retains the story's German flavor while rendering the text in smooth and highly readable English. Readers of historical fiction should find this very much to their liking. --Booklist I loved every page, character and plot twist of The Hangman's Daughter, an inventive historical novel about a 17th-century hangman's quest to save a witch--from himself. --Scott Turow

About The Author

Oliver Pötzsch, born in 1970, was for years a radio personality for Bavarian radio and a screenwriter for Bavarian Public Television. He is himself a descendent of the Kuisls, the well-known line of Bavarian executioners that inspired the novel. He lives with his family in Munich.

Lee Chadeayne is a former classical musician and college professor. He was one of the charter members of the American Literary Translators Association and is editor-in-chief of ALTA News.