Finding Dorothy, by Elizabeth Letts, is mostly about Maud Gage Baum, wife of Oz creator L. Frank Baum. The book alternates between tracing Maud's life, beginning in 1871 when she was ten years old and ending at Christmas 1899 (just before The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is published), and the 1938-1939 time period, during the making and premiere of The Wizard of Oz movie. In the latter sections, Maud is on the set, trying to make sure the movie stays true to her late husband's intentions, and meets Judy Garland, the actress playing Dorothy, befriending and becoming protective of her.
Learning about the life of Maud (and of Frank) gives some insights into the inspirations for characters and scenes from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Dorothy may have been inspired by the hard life of one of his and Maud's nieces (but not the one named Dorothy, who died as an infant a year before the book was published).
And, like all good historical fiction, this book inspired me to learn more - I went back to The Annotated Wizard of Oz, Centennial Edition, edited by noted scholar Michael Patrick Hearn, which I first read in December 2007. After reading Finding Dorothy, the background material in the introduction to this annotated edition was even more meaningful.
© Amanda Pape - 2018
[This advance reader edition was sent to me by the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for a review. It will be passed on to someone else to enjoy.]
© Amanda Pape - 2018
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