'Hiddensee' is a 'Nutcracker'-inspired novel from the author of 'Wicked'

Summary

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NPR’s Book of the Day: “Hiddensee” by Gregory Maguire

Date: December 24, 2025
Host: Lulu Garcia Navarro
Guest: Gregory Maguire (Author of "Wicked" and "Hiddensee")

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Episode Overview

This special holiday episode delves into Gregory Maguire’s novel “Hiddensee”—a reimagining of the backstory to “The Nutcracker,” focusing on the mysterious toymaker, Godfather Drosselmeyer. Host Lulu Garcia Navarro speaks to Maguire about the enduring power of fairy tales, the darkness underpinning childhood stories, and why recapturing childhood wonder can guide us through adult hardships. The conversation offers insights for lovers of old stories seen anew and explores why fairy tales aren’t just for children.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Encountering “The Nutcracker”

• Maguire’s Introduction to the Tale
  • [01:57] Maguire recalls experiencing “The Nutcracker” ballet live at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, vividly remembering the spectacle:

    “That scene where the Christmas tree grows 40, 50, 60ft high… one of the most magical transformations I've ever seen on the stage, even if the rest of the story seemed to me demented.”
    (Gregory Maguire, 02:10)

  • He criticizes the ballet’s structure: Act One as strong, dramatic fairy tale; Act Two as disconnected pageant.

    “It's as if we're sitting in an overstuffed living room looking at the photographs of our grandparents’ trip around the world. It has nothing to do with the great drama of Act One.”
    (Gregory Maguire, 02:42)

Reimagining Drosselmeyer: The Backstory

• Why Drosselmeyer?

  • Maguire’s novel explores what shaped the enigmatic gift-giver.

    “Dirk Drosselmeier is a foundling, or that's what he's told. And he lives in the Bavarian forest… about 1800 or so… right at the heart of the German fairy tale.”
    (Gregory Maguire, 03:20)

  • Drosselmeyer grows up amid the real and fantastical influences of early-19th-century Germany—alongside the Brothers Grimm and an emerging tradition of romantic fairy tales.

• Character Details

  • Maguire infuses depth into details only hinted at in the ballet:

    “The only thing we know about Godfather Drosselmeyer from the stage is that he’s tall and leering and a little menacing and a little helpful, and he's got this eyepatch. So my job as a novelist is to say, that’s not just a throwaway eyepatch. That eyepatch has some meaning.”
    (Gregory Maguire, 04:26)

Fairy Tales as Adult Consolation

• Role of Fairy Tales for Adults

  • Maguire and Navarro discuss the timeless human need for stories:

    “We seem to need both to stare with unblinking eyes at the reality of the hard world in which we live. And we also seem to need the comfort of those tales that we got when we were children… If we remember the magic of our childhoods, we might be able to find in that the strength to carry on through our own hard and difficult adult lives.”
    (Gregory Maguire, 05:09 & 05:28)

• Stories as Therapy

  • Maguire quotes philosopher Roger Scruton:

    “The consolation of the imaginary is not imaginary consolation.”
    (Gregory Maguire, 05:51)

  • He frames his writing as a “grown up job” that provides true solace, not just escapism.

Power, Margins, and Small Acts

• Shifting Power Dynamics
  • Navarro observes: Drosselmeyer is powerful in the ballet, but Maguire’s book strips him of that, making him “the least powerful character in many ways.”
    • Maguire responds:

      “Sometimes it’s the people on the margins of society who have the most to do to pick up and placate those who really need the help. It’s kindergarten teachers who are the ones who really catch the scowl of worry... and do something useful for that human soul. And I think Drosselmeyer is one of those characters.”
      (Gregory Maguire, 06:36)

Family, Traditions & Personal Connection

• Maguire’s Family and Nutcracker Traditions
  • He shares a family ritual:

    “I have 40 nutcrackers in the basement. They live in plastic crates. And just about now we haul the crates out… and line the staircase… large and small. They are an army of stern and scowling and bearded defenders of some faith or other. We're not sure we can name the faith, but we're glad they're there.”
    (Gregory Maguire, 07:24)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the disconnect between Acts of The Nutcracker:

  “It’s crazy. It’s broken. It doesn’t make any sense.”
  (Gregory Maguire, 02:23)

• On giving meaning to minor details:

  “That eyepatch has some meaning. How did he get to need it? And what does that say about his character?”
  (Gregory Maguire, 04:26)

• On the blend of childhood magic and adult hardship:

  “If we remember the magic of our childhoods, we might be able to find in that the strength to carry on through our own hard and difficult adult lives.”
  (Gregory Maguire, 05:28)

• On the value of consoling stories for adults:

  “The consolation of the imaginary is not imaginary consolation.”
  (Roger Scruton quote via Gregory Maguire, 05:51)

• On marginalized helpers:

  “It’s kindergarten teachers… who really catch the scowl of worry on the brow of one of their charges… and do something useful for that human soul.”
  (Gregory Maguire, 06:41)

• On family rituals:

  “We line the staircase with nutcrackers, large and small… an army of stern and scowling and bearded defenders of some faith or other.”
  (Gregory Maguire, 07:33)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:57] Gregory Maguire recounts seeing “The Nutcracker” and its magical impact
• [03:18] Explaining Drosselmeyer’s backstory in “Hiddensee”
• [04:15] Discussing the importance and symbolism of Drosselmeyer’s eyepatch
• [05:04] On the darkness of the real world and the need for fairy tales
• [05:51] Maguire shares the Roger Scruton quote
• [06:36] The power of marginalized characters to offer meaningful help
• [07:24] Personal family traditions with nutcrackers

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Episode Tone

Engaging, reflective, lightly whimsical, and insightful; the conversation blends literary curiosity with warmth, exploring why and how old stories still matter for grown-ups.

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This summary covers the core themes, narrative insights, and personal touches from Maguire, providing a rich overview for listeners and readers new to “Hiddensee”, “The Nutcracker”, or Maguire’s work.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. And for all you wicked heads out there, we've got an early Christmas gift for you. It's an interview with Gregory Maguire, who, yes, wrote Wicked and all the various spinoffs. But back in 2017, he took a different fantastical tale and added some backstory to it, the Nutcracker. The resulting book was titled Hidden Sea, and he spoke to former NPR host Lulu Garcia Navarro back when it came out, and he talked about what attracts him to children's stores as an adult and how remembering the magic of childhood can help us navigate our adult lives with our adult problems. That's ahead.

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[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

It's that time of year. Sugar plum, fairies dancing in delight, the Mouse King, a gorgeous Christmas party and a prince. The Nutcracker ballet is a beloved holiday perennial. But the new novel Hidden Sea, which is based on the Nutcracker tale, is not exactly meant for the kiddos. It tells the backstory of the powerful toymaker, H.E.R. drosselmeier, who gives the Nutcracker to Clara. Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked, among other bestsellers, is the author, and he joins us now from WGBH in Boston. Welcome to the program.

[Gregory Maguire]

Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be here.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

How did you first encounter the tale of the Nutcracker?

[Gregory Maguire]

Well, like most Americans, maybe people around the world, I saw the ballet, indeed. I saw it live, I believe, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. And one of the things that captivated me about it was that scene where the Christmas tree grows 40, 50, 60ft high. And that seemed to be one of the most magical transformations I've ever seen on the stage, even if the rest of the story seemed to me demented.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

Demented, yes.

[Gregory Maguire]

Well, it's crazy. It's broken. It doesn't make any sense. Act one is traditional tale that you might find in Grimm with the small, powerless Clara fighting the great king of the mice. And that makes sense. And it's dramatically strong, and we're rooting for the small girl. And all that is great. Then act Two comes the most gorgeous ballet music in the world. But it's as if we're sitting in an overstuffed living room looking at the photographs of our grandparents trip around the world. It has nothing to do with the great drama of act One. It's all square. And I wanted to know what I could do with this story to make the two parts speak to each other.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

Is that what this was about? I mean, your book is a sort of prequel to this. It tells the story of Dirk Drosselmeier, the powerful toymaker. And when we meet him, he is in dire straits. Tell us about that.

[Gregory Maguire]

Well, Dirk Drosselmeier is a foundling, or that's what he's told. And he lives in the Bavarian forest. He's born about 1800 or so, so he's about 8 years old in 1808. Now, you may know that just about at this time, the Grimm brothers were combing the woods of Bavaria and Baden looking for those stories that would really cement German romanticism and the German romantic fairy tale in our minds for the next 200 some years. So Dirk Drosselmeyer is born right at the heart of. Of the German fairy tale, in a sense. And I decided to take his life story as a small, poor boy in the backwoods, as it were, of Europe, and see how he grows up to be able to enter the salons of Munich and to be the one person who can stand between a little girl and the great darkness threatening her on Christmas Eve.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

So you take this and you have all these different characters show up, and indeed, the Brothers Grimm make an appearance. And we find out how he gets the eyepatch.

[Gregory Maguire]

We find out how he gets the eyepatch. And indeed, the only thing we know about Godfather Drosselmeyer from the stage is that he's tall and leering and a little menacing and a little helpful, and he's got this eyepatch. So my job as a novelist is to say, that's not just a throwaway eye patch. That eye patch has some meaning. How did he get to need it? And what does that say about his character in general?

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

Yeah, well, we're not going to give it away, but what is so intriguing about this tale is that he's living inside a fairy tale. Then he goes to the real world of German romanticism In the early 19th century, as you mentioned. And the real world is very hard and dark.

[Gregory Maguire]

Well, the real world is hard and dark. And I don't. I think you've noticed that, Lulu, these days.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

Yes.

[Gregory Maguire]

And we seem to need both to stare with unblinking eyes at the reality of the hard world in which we live. And we also seem to need the comfort of those tales that we got when we were children. That said, if we fight hard enough and if we endure, we just might survive. If we remember the magic of our childhoods, we might be able to find in that the strength to carry on through our own hard and difficult adult lives.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

Yeah, because fairy tales are often viewed as a kind of therapy for kids. Right. Where they can process the fears and dangers of adulthood in a fanciful way. Is that what you're trying to do for your adult readers?

[Gregory Maguire]

It's certainly what I'm trying to do for myself. I like a quote by Roger Scruton, British moral philosopher, which says, the consolation of the imaginary is not imaginary consolation. And so when I ask myself, well, why am I not in public policy? Why am I not a brain surgeon? Why am I writing fairy tales for adults? I remember that giving people consolation through the literary arts is indeed a grown up job, and that's what I try to do.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

It struck me also when I was reading this book that, you know, Drosselmeyer in the ballet is such a powerful figure. He is the center of the magic, but in the book he is the least powerful character in many ways. Is there a message in that?

[Gregory Maguire]

I think we often overlook the people who are really pulling the strings. And sometimes it's the people on the margins of society who have the most to do to pick up and placate those who really need the help. It's kindergarten teachers who are the ones who really catch the scowl of worry on the brow of one of their charges, who is able to lean in right then, right there and do something useful for that human soul. And I think Drosselmeyer is one of those characters too.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

Do you have children?

[Gregory Maguire]

I do. I have three adopted children.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

Have you taken them to see the Nutcracker?

[Gregory Maguire]

I have not taken them, but my daughter, the youngest child, has been about 10 times.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

I was just curious if this was sort of a family tradition that had been passed down.

[Gregory Maguire]

Here's the part that is a family tradition. I have 40 nutcrackers in the basement. They live in plastic crates. And just about now we haul the crates out of the basement and we line the staircase with nutcrackers large and small. The largest of them are about three feet tall, and the smallest of them you could hang on the Christmas tree with a little gold string if you wanted. They are an army of stern and scowling and bearded defenders of some faith or other. We're not sure we can name the faith, but we're glad they're there.

[Lulu Garcia Navarro]

Gregory Maguire is the author of Hidden A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker. Thank you so much for joining us.

[Gregory Maguire]

Thank you. Lulu Foreign.

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, Andrew, here from NPR's Book of the Day podcast. The end of the year is a great time to catch up on some reading on our special series, Books We've Loved. We revisited some old reads like Pride and Prejudice, Gone Girl, Dune to see if they held up as classics. You can find all 10 episodes now in NPR's Book of the Day podcast feed on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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