Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker
Gregory Maguire
From the author of the beloved #1 New York Times bestseller Wicked, the magical story of a toymaker, a nutcracker, and a legend remade . . . Gregory Maguire returns with an inventive novel inspired by a timeless holiday legend, intertwining the story of the famous Nutcracker with the life of the mysterious toy maker named Drosselmeier who carves him. Hiddensee: An island of white sandy beaches, salt marshes, steep cliffs, and pine forests north of Berlin in the Baltic Sea, an island that is an enchanting bohemian retreat and home to a large artists' colony—a wellspring of inspiration for the Romantic imagination . . . Having brought his legions of devoted readers to Oz in Wicked and to Wonderland in After Alice, Maguire now takes us to the realms of the Brothers Grimm and E. T. A. Hoffmann—the enchanted Black Forest of Bavaria and the salons of Munich. Hiddensee imagines the backstory of the Nutcracker, revealing how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how he guided an ailing girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a Christmas Eve. At the heart of Hoffmann's mysterious tale hovers Godfather Drosselmeier—the ominous, canny, one-eyed toy maker made immortal by Petipa and Tchaikovsky's fairy tale ballet—who presents the once and future Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter. But Hiddensee is not just a retelling of a classic story. Maguire discovers in the flowering of German Romanticism ties to Hellenic mystery-cults—a fascination with death and the afterlife—and ponders a profound question: How can a person who is abused by life, shortchanged and challenged, nevertheless access secrets that benefit the disadvantaged and powerless? Ultimately, Hiddensee offers a message of hope. If the compromised Godfather Drosselmeier can bring an enchanted Nutcracker to a young girl in distress on a dark winter evening, perhaps everyone, however lonely or marginalized, has something precious to share.
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0Maguire’s take on the Nutcracker was interesting as it’s not actually that. This is a story that focuses on creating a background for Drosselmeier the toy maker. Overall I enjoyed what Maguire did and I loved how he created the history of a character whom we have never known the origins of.
There were many moments that left me slightly shocked and baffled, especially in the beginning. There was also a good amount of hilarious moments through Drosselmeier’s youth. But I have to say the middle portion of the story dipped in enjoyment. It started to feel like it was a slog to get through and I think if I wasn’t using the audiobook it would have taken a lot longer to complete. After awhile I started to get impatient waiting for the story to finally connect back to the nutcracker. Once it finally did connect it felt way too short lived, but I have to say I did enjoy seeing the events that Clara goes through from the perspective of the adults who didn’t go through what she did.
Hiddensee is a creative take on a very old tale and I think Maguire did a decent job creating a history for a well known character.
02.5 this just didn't work for me like i was hoping, i was pretty bored throughout the story and never connected to anything. i'd recommend this to those interested, just not myself.
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