Midnight In Everwood by M.A Kuzniar

Synopsis
In the darkness of night, magic awaits…
Nottingham, 1906

Marietta Stelle longs to be a ballerina but, as Christmas draws nearer, her dancing days are numbered – she must 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 Marietta’s life.

After Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate theatrical set for her final ballet performance on Christmas Eve, Marietta discovers it carries a magic all of its own – a magic darker than anyone could imagine. As the clock chimes midnight, Marietta finds herself transported from her family’s ballroom to a frozen sugar palace, silent with secrets, in a forest of snow-topped fir trees. She must find a way to return home before she’s trapped in Everwood’s enchanting grip forever.

In the darkness of night, magic awaits and you will never forget what you find here…

Review
One of my favourite Christmas treats was seeing the ballet The Nutcracker with its colourful characters and magical story line. In Midnight in Everwood M.A Kuzinar re-imagines this beautiful story, setting it in Nottingham 1906 and the enchanting world of Everwood. Marietta longs to be a ballerina, to join a company and dance on the stage. However, her parents expect her to fulfil their expectations to marry well, so this Christmas is to be her last performance as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, before she hangs up her ballet shoes for good. When the illusive Dr Drosselmeir comes to dinner, with his magic and charm, Marietta is enchanted, especially when he builds the set for her performance in The Sleeping Beauty. But as Marietta takes a look at the set she finds herself in a new world filled with snow and houses of gingerbread and frosting, but the more time she spends there she realises that underneath the sugar coating lies a darker side. Marietta finds herself trapped in this world, deperate to find a way home.

As soon as I heard about Midnight In Everwood I had to pre-order it as The Nutcracker is one of my all time favourite fairytales. In this version, M.A Kuniar has created a darker version of the book suitable for an adult audience. There are all the favourite characters from the ballet, but maybe not as saccherine sweet as I am used to. Marietta is a young woman constricted by her palce in society, she is daughter to a Baron and expected to do her duty to the family and marry well as fitting her status. Marietta’s only freedom is her dancing, where she can express herself, to abandon the chains of hre family and be who she wants to be, something he doesn’t want to give up to be a wife. So far she has managed to avoid a suitor, but when the enigamtic Dr Drosselmeir moves in opposite their house she finds her head turned by his charm and the air of mystery that surrounds him; a magic that maybe sinister. In Everwood Marietta has to tackle a very different world, and a place where her dreams are used against her. I did like the inclusion of some of my favourite characters form the ballet including The Sugar Plum Fairy, but a very different version, and a nod to The Mouse King. These characters are so well known but I loved the fact that M.A Kuzniar made them her own, brought a darker side to them which was really refreshing.

I was drawn into this book from the first page and found myself totally immersed in Marietta’s world and in particular the magical Everwood. The snowy landscape, gingerbread houses, and a palace made of sugar and ice all make for a winter wonderland, but M.A Kuzniar creates an underlying sense of menace. This darkness was a welcome addition to the story, I relished this menacing undercurrent, the contrast of the saccharine sweet palace with the cruel King and the snowy evergreen trees that have dark shadows to entrap those caught in the forest. M.A Kuzniar’s prose is lyrical, it flows beautifully and her attention to detail captures the essence of the story. What I admired most is that she made this story her own whilst keeping the fundamental essence of the origional story.

Midnight In Everwood is going to be one of those books that I will get out to read every December to enjoy the magic again. The storytelling is wonderful, drawing you into to this enchanting world of snow and ice, with a darkness underpinning it. This truely is a spellbinding read, as delicious as the gingerbread houses, and one that put an enchantment over me; this is the perfect winter read.