Costco Connection - August 2011

book pıck

Thereby hangs a tale

The Hangman’s Daughter finds humanity behind the noose

By Stephanie E. Ponder

To answer that question, Pötzsch turned to what
he’d learned through extensive research. For exam-
ple, hangmen weren’t allowed in church. And if one
wanted to go to the pub, everyone there had to
agree. Once he was inside, he had to sit at an assigned
seat. Because of that limited interaction with others,
Jakob needed someone who had access to people
and common settings. So Pötzsch gave Jakob a
friend and ally in Simon.

GERMAN AUTHOR Oliver Pötzsch grew up knowing that his ancestry includes 14 generations of hangmen, with the family name Kuisl (pronounced Kwee-zel). In fact, his maternal grandmother has a habit of sizing up family members to determine who is a Kuisl—based on strong dark eyebrows, arched noses and athletic bodies.

seat. Because of that limited interaction with others,
In a nod to his ancestors, Pötzsch
gave those same physical traits to the
hangman and his family who are at the
heart of this month’s book buyer’s pick,

The Hangman’s Daughter.

Originally published in German in

2008, the novel, which takes place over a week in Schongau, Germany, in 1659, begins with a barely alive child being pulled from a river. Seeing a strange mark on the boy’s back, the townspeople determine that the local midwife—with all of her herbal remedies—is a witch and must confess.

DOMINIK PARZINGER

Perhaps the most interesting
aspect of Pötzsch’s research revealed
that hangmen also often served the
role of healer. It’s a contradiction best
described by Jakob when he says to a
group of town officials, “First I’m sup-
posed to hurt her, then heal her again,
and in the end burn her. You’re com-
pletely crazy, you lot.”
Pötzsch, who worked as a journal-
ist in radio and television for more
than a decade, always knew he wanted
to write a book.

Oliver Pötzsch

As more children are found dead or go missing, Jakob Kuisl, the town’s hangman, is forced to extract a confession from the midwife. With the aid of his daughter, Magdalena, and the town physician’s son, Simon Fronweiser, Jakob is in a race against the clock to find out what really happened.

“It was always in my mind—the desire to become
a writer,” he tells The Connection from his home in
southern Munich. “I thought this will be the book,
this or nothing.”
In writing the novel, Pötzsch focused on a par-
ticular question: “What is a hangman doing if he has
to torture a person, if he knows that person isn’t the
murderer?” he explains. “This is his personal moti-
vation; he’s not Sherlock Holmes.”
While the story began as an idea for a journal-
istic piece, the project grew when he spoke with a
literary agent who was not only interested in the
story as a novel, but also asked about a sequel. (He’s
currently working on book five.)

Even though Pötzsch says he compiled a lot of information, it was important that he let the fictional characters and plot do the work. “Readers notice that it’s well researched, even if just a little bit of the information is used,” he says. “Readers don’t want you to be the teacher. It’s a novel, not a textbook.”

For his research, Pötzsch turned to various sources, including a collection of books owned by one of his cousins, Fritz Kuisl. At the time, Fritz served as the family’s expert on their ancestors.

Not only did Pötzsch, a father of two school-age children, find invaluable information about hangmen, he also gained an appreciation of genealogy. Among his cousin’s books and photos, Pötzsch found index cards on which his and his then-infant son’s names were written.

At that moment, the value of knowing one’s
past became clear to Pötzsch. As he writes in
the afterword, “Genealogy gives us a feeling
of immortality. The individual dies; the
family lives on.”
After the journey to discover his
roots, one question remains. Is he, by
his grandmother’s terms, a Kuisl?

Although Pötzsch doesn’t have the prominent physical attributes, he admits, “After the books, my Omi says I am now.” C

FRANCE FREEMAN

COSTCO HAS 50 COPIES of Oliver Pötzsch’s The Hangman’s Daughter with signed bookplates to give away. For a chance to win, send an email with your name and mailing address to giveaway@costco.com, with “Oliver Pötzsch” in the subject line. Or print your name, address and daytime phone number on a postcard or letter and send it to: Oliver Pötzsch, The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

Purchase will not improve odds of winning. Sweepstakes is sponsored by Houghton Mif;in Harcourt, 215 Park Ave. S., New York, NY 10003. Open to legal residents of the U. S. (except Puerto Rico) who are age 18 or older at the time of entry. One entry per household. Entries must be received by September 1, 2011. Winners will be randomly selected and noti;ed by mail on or before October 1, 2011. The value of the prize is $18. Void where prohibited. Winners are responsible for all applicable federal, state and local taxes. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Employees of Costco or Houghton Mif;in Harcourt and their families are not eligible. Signed book giveaway

I LOVE EVERYTHING about this month’s book buyer’s pick, Oliver Pötzsch’s novel The Hangman’s Daughter. The cover is intriguing; the title captured my interest before I ever thumbed through the book. And then there’s the story itself: The town hangman, Jakob Kuisl, is determined to prove the innocence of a midwife accused of murdering several children.

Kuisl is easily my favorite character. He’s strong and determined— necessary traits in his line of work, I imagine—yet he’s also a loving father and husband. And he proves himself to be an honorable friend and fair mentor.

Reading this novel felt very much like watching a ;lm. Each scene unfolds ;uidly and vividly as Kuisl, his oldest daughter, Magdalena, and a family friend race against the clock—or the hangman’s noose—to solve the mystery.