I’ve discovered that alternate fairy tales are kinda my thing. I read and reviewed Lost Boy by Christina Henry, an alternate tale of Peter Pan and Captain Hook. I am in love with the story of Wicked by Gregory Maguire, the alternate Oz story and also hit Broadway musical. Now Hiddensee is my latest find. This book is also by Gregory Maguire and it is an alternate tale of a holiday favorite. I think the title is a little misleading though, because technically the book is not about the nutcracker, but about his creator Dirk Drosselmeier.

We follow Drosselmeier as a young boy who lives in a dark forest near Bavaria. He lives with an elderly couple that he is aware are not his parents. He suffers a near-death experience which opens his eyes to the magical qualities of the forest around him. We follow him through the Bavarian countryside as he works for several families and befriends the children. Finally as a man he is a close family friend of the Stahlbaum family and is very close with Felix Stahlbaum and his two sons whom he makes toys for. Drosselmeier eventually becomes the godfather of Felix’s grandchildren Fritz and Klara. Klara is a frail, fanciful child whom Drosselmeier learns is very ill and her symptoms make themselves known when she starts speaking nonsense about a Mouse King coming to carry her away.

I enjoyed the other little bits of fairy tales that made their way into this book. At the beginning, Dirk hears a story about a brother and sister that venture into the woods and meet an old witch who tries to kill them. Near the end, he asks himself where the little elves come from that help hobbled shoemakers. There is even a cameo by one of the Grimm brothers looking for stories to record. It’s also nice having a background to Drosselmmeier’s story now. Before, he was always the mysterious godfather with an eye patch that no one could pin a life on. Some may argue that now his mysterious character is ruined for the ballet, but I think it helped him. It definitely helped Klara’s character. Giving Klara and illness as an explanation to her fantastic story was, I think, genius of Maguire. Godfather Drosselmeier gives Klara the legendary nutcracker in order to protect her from the Mouse King that she is hallucinating, but it goes to show that he understands the children when their parents scold them for their flights of fancy. It brings out Drosselmeier’s inner child, which we see in the book he never gets to embrace. I believe he also sees himself as the brave nutcracker soldier trying to rescue Klara from a terrible fate.

I highly recommend this book for those of you that like alternate fairy tales. It deviates from the ballet a little, but that is the point. Take a journey with Herr Drosselmeier as he learns to navigate life and love.