I adore The Nutcracker in any form. (Of course, I will always pick the ballet but I’m up for an adaptation.) I was not a huge fan of Gregory Maguire’s Nutcracker retelling, but I have been on the look out for another. It is a Christmas miracle- I’ve found one! I have MA Kuzniar’s Midnight in Everywood ready on my ereader for Christmas Eve…
Midnight in Everwood, MA Kuzniar
There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms.
When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own. On the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, she is transported to a snowy forest, where she encounters danger at every turn: ice giants, shadow goblins and the shrieking mist all lurk amidst the firs and frozen waterfalls and ice cliffs. After being rescued by the butterscotch-eyed captain of the king’s guard, she is escorted to the frozen sugar palace. At once, Marietta is enchanted by this glittering world of glamorous gowns, gingerbread houses, miniature reindeer and the most delicious confectionary.
But all is not as it seems and Marietta is soon trapped in the sumptuous palace by the sadistic King Gelum, who claims her as his own. She is confined to a gilded prison with his other pets; Dellara, whose words are as sharp as her teeth, and Pirlipata, a princess from another land. Marietta must forge an alliance with the two women to carve a way free from this sugar-coated but treacherous world and back home to follow her dreams. Yet in a hedonistic world brimming with rebellion and a forbidden romance that risks everything, such a path will never be easy.
Why I Will Be Reading This…
I don’t have a review yet, but I am fairly excited to read this! If you are newer to the blog, you won’t know that every 24 December I settle in and read a book. Normally I do a poll to choose which book, but the choice is clear this year. I don’t typically read young adult books (I find that it often feels like 60% of a story) but of course I have to make an exception for The Nutcracker. When I do my Christmas Eve read, I usually finish sometime in the afternoon- I will share my thoughts on my Instagram stories, and then update this post in the following days!
Have you read Midnight in Everwood?
Cheers,
The Historian
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