The Storyteller

Antonia Michaelis — 2012

Anna and Abel couldn’t be more different. They are both seventeen and in their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It’s a beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but when his “enemies” begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a murderer. Has she? Award-winning author Antonia Michaelis moves in a bold new direction with her latest novel: a dark, haunting, contemporary story that is part mystery, part romance, and part melodrama.

Reviews

Melissa Palmer@melissapalmer404

Nov 5, 2023

Book #72 Read in 2012 The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis This book was hard to put down but also hard to get through. Anna is drawn to Abel, a mysterious student at her school. He has a reputation as a hard core drug dealer. She begins to spy on him and realizes that he is the caregiver for his younger sister, Micha. Abel spins stories to entertain Micha and uses the stories as a way of talking about what is going on in their lives. Anna earns her role in these stories as she gets more and more sucked into the lives of Abel and Micha. This book has raw parts that are incredibly graphic and characters are so complex that it is hard to figure out who is good and who is bad. This book was interesting in a train wreck, can't put it down sort of way. Abel is at once hero and villain. Anna is at once victim and enabler. They are tough to compartmentalize. This book is edgy and has powerful elements to it. http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Samiha Tasnim@samihatasnim

Jan 17, 2022

I'd never have thought a fairy-tale could hold so much sway over reality. Abel Tannatek is a gifted storyteller, but the author herself is even better. An amazing read indeed.