The Kingdom of Sweets

ERIKA JOHANSEN grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She went to Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania before attending the celebrated Iowa Writers Workshop, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. She eventually became an attorney but she never stopped writing. Her debut was the international bestseller, The Queen of the Tearling - the first novel in a remarkable sequence. This was followed by the acclaimed The Invasion of the Tearling, The Fate of the Tearling and a prequel, Beneath the Keep. Erika now lives in England.



Author photo (c) Victoria Webb

'Captures the whimsical nature of Tchaikovsky's ballet, whilst at the same time exploring a more sinister thread . . . dark in spirit and gothic in its atmosphere, this is The Nutcracker as you've never known it.' CULTUREFLY

Light and dark - this is the destiny placed upon Natasha and Clara, the birthright bestowed on them by their godfather, the mysterious sorcerer Drosselmeyer. Clara, the favourite, grows into beauty and ease, while Natasha is cursed to live in her sister's shadow. But one fateful Christmas Eve, Natasha gets her chance at revenge. For Drosselmeyer has returned and brought with him the Nutcracker, an enchanted present which offers entry to a deceptively beautiful world: the Kingdom of Sweets.

In this land of snow and sugar, Natasha is presented with a power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who is also a giver of gifts . . . and a maker of dread-filled bargains. As Natasha uncovers the dark destiny laid before her birth, she must reckon with powers both earthly and magical . . . and decide to which world she truly belongs.