The kingdom of sweets : a novel of The Nutcracker / Erika Johansen.
Material type: TextPublisher: [New York]: Dutton, [2023]Description: 354 pages ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781524742751
- 1524742759
- 813/.6 23/eng/20230503
Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | URL | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Bedford Public Library New Fiction | Fiction | F JOH | More online. | Checked out | 05/16/2024 | 32500005567376 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
This gloriously transportive reimagining of The Nutcracker tells the tale of twin sisters, divided by envy and magic, set against each another one fateful Christmas Eve.
Light and dark --this is the cursed birthright placed upon Clara and Natasha by their godfather, Drosselmeyer, whose power and greed hold an entire city in his sway. Charming Clara, the favorite, grows into a life of beauty and ease, while Natasha is relegated to her sister's shadow, ignored and unloved.
But Natasha seizes the opportunity for revenge one Christmas Eve, when Drosselmeyer arrives at the family gala with the Nutcracker, an enchanted gift that offers entry into an alternate world: the Kingdom of Sweets.
Following Clara into the glittering land of snow and sugar, Natasha discovers a source of power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who offers her own wondrous gifts . . . and chilling bargains. But as Natasha uncovers the truth about a dark destiny crafted long before her birth, she must reckon with forces both earthly and magical, human and diabolical, and decide to which world she truly belongs.
Light and dark—this is the destiny placed upon Natasha and Clara, the birthright bestowed by their godfather, the mysterious sorcerer Drosselmeyer. Clara, the favorite, grows into beauty and ease, while Natasha is cursed to live in her sister’s shadow. But one fateful Christmas Eve, Natasha gets her chance at revenge. For Drosselmeyer has brought the Nutcracker, an enchanted present that offers entry into a deceptively beautiful world: the Kingdom of Sweets.In this land of snow and sugar, Natasha is presented with a power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who is also full of gifts and dreadful bargains. As Natasha uncovers the dark destiny laid before her birth, she must reckon with powers both earthly and magical, and decide to which world she truly belongs.
Excerpt provided by Syndetics
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
Natasha and her twin sister, Clara, are given a double-edged blessing at their christening by their godfather Drosselmeyer. Clara receives all the beauty and popularity with her golden curls and charm, but Natasha is studious and short with straight black hair. Natasha has mostly been content to live in the shadow of her sister--until Clara becomes engaged to the boy Natasha loves. On that fateful Christmas Eve when the girls are about to turn 17, Drosselmeyer gives Natasha a terrifying clown and Clara the gift of an enchanted nutcracker that transports the girls to the Kingdom of Sweets, a snowy place full of lollipop trees, sugar-crystal reindeer, and marzipan grass, all ruled by the illusory Sugar Plum Fairy. Though this world seems designed for Clara, it is here Natasha gains powers that give her the chance to enact revenge on her sister and change her fate once and for all. VERDICT In this stand-alone novel, Johansen ("Queen of the Tearling" series) writes a beautifully twisted version of The Nutcracker, exploring the nature of revenge and its costs in horror-tinged fantasy. Recommend to fans of V.E. Schwab and Hannah Whitten.--Leigh VerburgPublishers Weekly Review
Johansen's dark and sprawling historical fantasy reimagining of The Nutcracker starts with a bang but loses a bit of steam as it goes on. In the 1900s, Natasha and Clara are twins cursed as infants to be "Dark" and "Light," respectively, by their sorcerer godfather, the mysterious and dastardly Drosselmeyer. The girls live out these designations, with Clara stepping into the limelight while Natasha is relegated to the shadows. Natasha has a secret, though: her love for Conrad, the heir of a duke, who slips through her bedroom window at night, then out with the dawn. On the eve of the twins' 17th birthday, which falls on Christmas, Drosselmeyer presents them with gifts--a large nutcracker for Clara and a creepy clown for Natasha. Those simple presents open the door to a portal realm of magic, mayhem, and many types of monster, complete with a complex love triangle, some murderous twists, and a thematic exploration of haves versus have-nots. Though this late turn to class struggle feels a bit abrupt, it's not unwelcome, and, while the plot meanders, there's no denying the lushness of Johansen's prose or the allure of her atmospheric setting. It's a mixed bag, but fans of thorny fairy tales and inventive retellings will want to check it out. Agent: Dorian Karchmar, WME. (Dec.)Booklist Review
Johansen (The Queen of the Tearling, 2014) transforms a beloved holiday classic into a dark tale of vengeance. Natasha, the narrator, and Clara are twins, born on Christmas day in a city reminiscent of early twentieth-century St. Petersburg, Russia. At their christening, they are "blessed" by the mysterious Drosselmeyer, to whom their father owes money. Natasha, declared "dark," is considered unlucky and left alone to her own devices, but being ignored allows her to observe many unsavory details about those around her as she grows up. Clara, deemed "light," is beautiful, popular, and invited to every party, but she is flighty, with a tendency to ignore the consequences of her actions. Natasha loves her sister while also envying her, but an unexpected announcement at the Christmas party on their seventeenth birthday has a devastating impact on the young woman. When a gift from Drosselmeyer draws Clara into a winter-fantasy realm, Natasha follows, hoping to confront her sister, but encounters the Sugar Plum Fairy instead. The powerful fae offers a bargain that would literally change Natasha's life if the pact were accepted. Fans of artistically influenced, realistic historical fiction wrapped in moral allegory will relish Natasha's Nutcracker-adjacent narrative.Kirkus Book Review
The famous Christmas ballet takes a sinister turn in Johansen's spooky retelling. All the pieces of the well-known story are here. At the Stahlbaum family Christmas Eve party, darling Clara receives a gift of a magical nutcracker from the mysterious magician, Drosselmeyer. That night, Clara journeys to the magical Kingdom of Sweets, alongside her nutcracker prince, and is welcomed by the Sugar Plum Fairy. But there's more to this fairytale dream than classical music fans might remember. In Johansen's telling, Clara is the beautiful and beloved counterpart to her twin sister, the plain and bookish Natasha. Drosselmeyer is a feared sorcerer who blessed (or was it cursed?) the twins as infants, giving Clara a charmed life and Natasha a desolate one. At that fated Christmas party, Drosselmeyer makes the happy announcement that Clara will marry Conrad, a wealthy future duke with whom Natasha is desperately in love. When the evening turns magical, Natasha follows Clara into the Kingdom of Sweets. Seething and resentful of Clara's unending good fortune, Natasha finds a sympathetic ear in the Sugar Plum Fairy. Natasha can see that the Fairy is not what she seems, but she's so consumed with envy and heartbreak that she accepts the Fairy's dark bargain: Natasha can take her revenge against Clara for the small price of helping the Fairy fulfill her own sinister plans for Drosselmeyer. It would be a simple thing to take the outlines of The Nutcracker ballet and make it grim, but Johansen is doing a lot of delicate character work here, primarily around envy, social limitations on women's choices, and accountability. The world beyond the candy fantasy is satisfyingly creepy but also an effective landscape for exploring what happens when you ignore the rotten core of your deepest desires. An eerie and sophisticated dark fantasy. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.Author notes provided by Syndetics
Erika Johansen was educated at Swarthmore College and received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is the Author of The Invasion of the Tearling, and The Queen of the Tearling, the first two novels of The Queen of the Tearling Trilogy.(Bowker Author Biography)