Review by Kayleigh
I’m a sucker for a Nutcracker retelling, and I thoroughly enjoyed the new world Rowena Miller thrust Clara in.
Favourite Quote:
Sometime after midnight, Clara sat on the floor of her own apartment, the nutcracker in her lap. The conversation with Annabelle had unnerved her. She was entirely safe, entirely practical, and had always considered that a virtue – her German American family certainly did. Her physician father certainly did. Her orderly and mannered mother certainly did. She had assumed, always, that Godfather did, too – after all, clockwork was nothing if not practical. But now she wondered if the pragmatism of gears and clock work might be too constricting in its safety.
Book Synopsis:
In the run up to the 1900s World’s Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers’ moving pictures and Loie Fuller’s serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather’s mechanical creations, and she’d rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world’s fair.
When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks a mirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, and mechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather’s toys was real.
As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work, and she could swear a shadow is following her. There’s no ignoring the danger she’s in, but Clara doesn’t know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both.
Review:
A good fairytale retelling, in my opinion, keeps the heart of a beloved story and reexamines themes and characters in new dimensions. Rowenna Miller takes the beloved nutcracker story and reimagines it as a blend of fantasy and feminism in the early 20th century.
Clara is an American who has landed an exciting contract to build clockwork creations in the lead up to the 1900 world fair in Paris, France. This is the first time she’s left her small town in the midwest behind, and she’s thrust into a whole new world at the turn of the century where men and women’s roles and lives are changing rapidly. As she builds an independent lift for herself, she is pulled back into her godfather’s mysterious world when he sends her a christmas gift.
Clara discovers there’s a whole other world that lives along ours. Called The Anderwelt, it’s our world, but influenced by the creation of makers. It’s a fascinating world that Clara rightly gets obsessed with. However, there’s danger there as well as beauty, and Clara begins to be followed in both worlds by danger.
Clara has a scientific mind, and is practical before all else. While she’s thrust into this other world, she’s reminded of her love of imagination as a child. Throughout her adventures, she is forced to meet new people and make friends, including her boss, the charming Fritz, her bohemian dancing neighbour Annabelle, Clara’s sister Louise and the mysterious Nathanael. This exploration in Clara’s identity is the root of the book. Can she be a serious woman, praised for her skills in a man’s world, and still be a woman, make time for fun and frivolity, and love? Clara’s exploration into living is because of her godfather’s mechanical creations and her own talent, and while those come to life, so does she. I loved the themes in this book and focus on Clara learning to let people in, both platonically and romantically.
The book is slower paced and a little heavy on world building details at times, but the whimsy and joy makes up for it. This is a book I think I would have also enjoyed more reading in the winter – it’s set at christmas and it felt odd reading it in June. Perhaps it’s because I think of the Nutcracker as such an essential part of my holiday experience?
If you want a delightful take on The Nutcracker, you should read The Palace of Illusions – but it’s best saved for when the snow falls.
Thank you to Redhook for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
