STORY SUMMARY
It is Nottingham, England in 1906 and Marietta Stelle is longing to be a ballerina with the Theatre Royal. But as Christmas Day approaches, she knows her dancing days are done. She is supposed to get married and take her place in society in the New Year.
But then a mysterious man appears in the neighborhood. He purchases the townhouse across the road from the Stelle family and they discover that he is a toymaker. He brings magic and wonder to Marietta's life.
His name is Mr Drosselmeier and he constructs a beautifully elaborate theatrical set for Marietta's final ballet performance. She will be dancing the part of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty with her ballet school friends in the Stelle family ballroom on Christmas Eve. But...Marietta soon discovers that this stage has a magic of its very own....a dark magic that no one would believe or imagine.
When the grandfather clock begins to chime midnight, Marietta finds herself thrust into a whole new world....far away from her parents and brother Frederick and into a land of sugar plums, snow-topped fir trees, chocolate drinks, and a frozen sugar palace with the evil king Gelum. She is relieved to be away from Drosselmeier and his inappropriate advances towards her, but now she has to deal with the dark magic of an evil king, faceless guards, and learn how to be friends with two other captive young women, Pirilpata and Dellara.
And then she meets a handsome captain....Captain Legat.....and she must decide if she is going to return to her own world and flee Everwood forever or linger with him in the frozen, enchanting new world. King Gelum will not let her go so she and her new friends must find a way to bring back the light and rid Everwood of the evil king once and for all.
Will she do it? Will she, in the darkness of night where magic awaits her, ever forget what she found there and will she make it back to her world before the stroke of midnight?
MY THOUGHTS
This is a really well done novel that is total adult fairy tale/fantasy.
The setting is superb and the characters are varied and well developed.
There are of course many references, although a bit changed, to the Nutcracker story.
What I loved about this book were the ballet references and it brought back fond memories of watching my Claire in all of the ballet classes over the years.
The descriptions of the sugar and chocolate treats abounding in Everwood was exquisitely done. You could just taste the hot chocolate pouring and feel the ice cold sugar walls. The author is excellent at descriptive narrative.
I loved the magical ending and there was even a well done love scene without being sappy.
Sadly, though, there were quite a few editing errors throughout the book.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
1 comment:
I am glad you enjoyed your book. That is cool about your daughter and her dancing!
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