{"product_id":"9780062684400","title":"Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the author of the beloved #1 \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestseller \u003cem\u003eWicked, \u003c\/em\u003ethe magical story of a toymaker, a nutcracker, and a legend remade . . .\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGregory 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHiddensee: 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 . . .\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving brought his legions of devoted readers to Oz in \u003cem\u003eWicked \u003c\/em\u003eand to Wonderland in \u003cem\u003eAfter Alice\u003c\/em\u003e, 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. \u003cem\u003eHiddensee \u003c\/em\u003eimagines 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut \u003cem\u003eHiddensee \u003c\/em\u003eis 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, \u003cem\u003eHiddensee \u003c\/em\u003eoffers 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47124152877296,"sku":"9780062684400","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780062684400_p0.jpg?v=1763632604","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780062684400","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}