The Nutcracker for adults, perfect for fans of Robert Dinsdale’s The Toymakers, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and Stephanie Garber’s Caraval. ’It was a rainy day that the magic came, and once magic has entered your life, you stay in its glittering clutch forever’
Nottingham, 1906Marietta Stelle longs to be a ballerina but as Christmas draws nearer, her dancing days are numbered. At the wishes of her family, she will be obligated to marry and take up her place in society in the New Year. But when a mysterious toymaker, Dr Drosselmeier, purchases a neighbouring townhouse, it heralds the arrival of magic and wonder in her life. Although Drosselmeier’s magic is darker than Marietta could have imagined…
When he constructs an elaborate theatrical set for her final ballet performance, Marietta discovers it carries a magic all of its own. As the clock chimes midnight, Marietta finds herself walking through a land of snow-topped fir trees leading to a frozen sugar palace silent with secrets and must find a way to return home.
In the darkness of night, magic awaits and you will never forget what you find here…
My Review:
I am a fan of fairytale and classic retellings and reimaginings, especially when they are given a spark of new life and changed enough not to be just a rehash of the original story and Midnight in Everwood fits this description. I am a little sad I didn't get to read it closer to Christmas, given it's setting and timing of the Christmas holidays, but it works well as a wintery book. Although you will find elements to the original Nutcracker story, in Kuzniar's world, the action focuses on 21-year-old Marietta Stelle, who has a passion for ballet but whose place is her upper class society must be upheld by leaving her lessons and dreams pf performing and marrying well. There is a Drosselmeier, a doctor of some sort who is now a rich and mysterious toymaker and neighbor, and Marietta's parents would like nothing more than for her to marry him. Dr. Drosselmeier, is in agreement, darkly obsessed with Marietta who is troubled by his attentions, and afraid of the glimpses she gets of his magic. When he offers to construct a stage for her final dance performance of Sleeping Beauty, Marietta, trying to escape his clutches, ends up transported to a magical land where nothing is as it seems and escaping the castle outside Everwood seems impossible.
The setting of Everwood and the castle will make your mouth water--particularly if you crave sweets, but those delicious treats--rich and heavenly drinking chocolate, peppermint scented bathing pools, buttercream balls with costumed dancers and delicate and intricate pastries, made to please the King, do not come without a price. I did enjoy the magical setting of the book which is both beautiful and foreboding as the prison and the forrest surrounding it seem impenetrable and have a gothic feel to them.
The book is tagged as adult and historical fiction and fantasy and I would say that it is new adult, or even young adult for a more mature teen. There is mention of violence to women, misogyny, and a mild sex scene but nothing graphic. It has romance definitely, and it's a good one, but the strongest relationships in it are between Marietta and her beloved older brother, Frederick, who must hide his homosexuality from his parents and society, and especially with the two women from other worlds who she meets while being held captive at the castle. It also is a coming of age story for Marietta, who grows from a willful and sheltered girl to a brave and strong woman. There are strong messages for female empowerment and following your dreams.
If you like fantasy, magic, suspense, fairytales, ballet and confection, but told with a darker, edge, Midnight in Everwood is a wonderful book to curl up with and escape. I very much enjoyed it!
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Author Notes: Maria Kuzniar spent six years living in Spain, teaching English and travelling the world which inspired her children’s series The Ship of Shadows. Her adult debut novel Midnight in Everwood was inspired by her love of ballet and love of The Nutcracker. She lives in Nottingham with her husband, where she reads and writes as much as can.
You can learn more about Maria on her website and Instagram.
Food Inspiration:
Midnight in Everwood is full of wonderful food and confections with detailed descriptions of goblets of molten chocolate, fairy cakes, petits fours topped with swirls of buttercream, buttery crisp pastries with a river of salted caramel sauce melting over your tongue, a white chocolate and snowberry cake, sweet and light and tasting of Christmas morning, chocolate mice with cherries for noses, a bathing pool with large toffee-scented bubbles, and many more.
I suggest pairing it with some decadent truffles and/or good drinking chocolate like these:
Easy French Hot Chocolate by Chocolate & Zucchini
Nigella's Hot Chocolate with Rum
My own Dark Chocolate Hearts with Fresh Raspberries
Note: A review copy of "Midnight in Everwood" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.
You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.
Thank you for being on this tour! Sara @ TLC Book Tours
ReplyDeleteHmm...Seems like I missed out on this one, too. :) I'm tagging it for a December read. Love the dessert round up!
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