Hiddensee

<p><strong>The author of the beloved <em>New York Times </em>bestseller <em>Wicked </em>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.</strong><br/></p><p><em>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 . . .</em></p><p>Having brought his legions of devoted readers to Oz in <em>Wicked </em>and to Wonderland in <em>After Alice</em> 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. <em>Hiddensee </em>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. </p><p>But <em>Hiddensee </em>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 <em>Hiddensee </em>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.</p><p><strong></strong> </p>