Lady Danielle

“Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.” 
― Walter Kirn



The title isn’t about the hangman’s daughter at all. Yes, she was in it helping her father solve the mystery of the murders of three children; however, it wasn’t focused on her, there were multiple point of views and at first it will become annoying, but you’ll get used to it. The title doesn’t give this book justice. It should have been titled something else; nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this very much. If you’re looking for something on the witch trials or something similar to The Crucible by Arthur Miller then The Hangman's Daughter is just for you. It does tend to get a bit slow, but it will immediately pick up and drag you back into the small Bavarian melancholy town in Germany during the 1600s.

Picture yourself finally going home from a very a long day of helping a woman give birth. After being up for nearly two days straight (remember, this is the 1600s, the procedures of childbirth takes a hell of a lot more time then our nowadays procedure that’s ten times easier and less tiring). You finally enter your home, grab a drink, and just sit at your table to relax and congratulate yourself on the job-well-done. Suddenly, you hear angry; loud voices approaching your small home. You hear, ‘burn the witch!’ and, curious, you peek your head out the window to see what all the commotion is about only to be greeted by a stone colliding with your forehead. Shocked, you try to escape but half the town has you surrounded and are blaming you for a murder you did commit. How do you tell an angry town you didn't commit no such crime? The answer: nothing. Confess that you did do it.

This is what happens to Martha Stechlin, the midwife. When a little orphan boy's body is pulled from a river bearing a strange mark of witchcraft on his shoulder, Martha is accused of this and the murder of several other children. It was easy to place the blame on her head due to the fact she concocts potions to cure illness and the like such as rashes, bad coughs, etc.



The hangman, Jakob Kuisl finds it hard to believe she did the crimes so he puts it in his best interest to help Martha and find the real murder with the help of his daughter, Magdalena, and the town's physician, Simon. The Hangman's Daughter was extremely detailed and vivid. Martha is put under torture so she can confess to the murders. For example, they used thumbscrews



I have no idea what I'd do if had I been Martha. It's actually quite funny, the town would kill anyone they suspect of witchcraft (children included) but when someone else murders they make a big deal about it. The hypocrisy. Pötzsch has done an excellent job of crafting a world based on tragic times and superstition. Each and everyone one the characters had their own personality and I found it to be a breath of fresh air. I grew tired of reading young adult novels where every character had no personality or was the same, so kudos to Pötzsch. I recommend The Hangman's Daughter to anyone who is in need of a good historical thriller.