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Book Reviewed by:This richly imagined novel tells the story behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the book that inspired the iconic film, through the eyes of author L. Frank Baum's intrepid wife, Maud.
Hollywood, 1938: As soon as she learns that M-G-M is adapting her late husband's masterpiece for the screen, seventy-seven-year-old Maud Gage Baum sets about trying to finagle her way onto the set. Nineteen years after Frank's passing, Maud is the only person who can help the producers stay true to the spirit of the book - because she's the only one left who knows its secrets.
But the moment she hears Judy Garland rehearsing the first notes of "Over the Rainbow," Maud recognizes the yearning that defined her own life story, from her youth as a suffragette's daughter to her coming of age as one of the first women in the Ivy League, from her blossoming romance with Frank to the hardscrabble prairie years that inspired The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Judy reminds Maud of a young girl she cared for and tried to help in South Dakota, a dreamer who never got her happy ending. Now, with the young actress under pressure from the studio as well as her ambitious stage mother, Maud resolves to protect her - the way she tried so hard to protect the real Dorothy.
The author of two New York Times bestselling nonfiction books, The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse, Elizabeth Letts is a master at discovering and researching a rich historical story and transforming it into a page-turner. Finding Dorothy is the result of Letts's journey into the amazing lives of Frank and Maud Baum. Written as fiction but based closely on the truth, Elizabeth Letts's new book tells a story of love, loss, inspiration, and perseverance, set in America's heartland.
Finding Dorothy is a fictionalized yet thoroughly researched peek behind the curtain of the famous stories of Oz, exploring the lives of Maud and Frank and their experiences that later surfaced in Baum's famous novels, including one that inspired a classic American film. Elizabeth Letts narrates Maud Gage Baum's biography eloquently, while reminding readers that they should never lose hope that a brighter day is waiting just beyond the rainbow...continued
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(Reviewed by Jordan Lynch).
Finding Dorothy is the fictionalized story of Maud Gage Baum, the wife of L. Frank Baum of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz fame. Through dual narratives, Elizabeth Letts explores the lives of the Baums and the inspirations that led Frank to pen his famous novel, while also featuring Maud's fight to see her husband's work honored as it was adapted for the silver screen in The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939. The movie became a hit, winning two Oscars, and has frequently been ranked one of the best films of the past 100 years.
Although the film's characters, songs and fantastical settings are well-recognized by many, perhaps the most iconic piece of memorabilia from the film are Dorothy's ruby slippers. In the original text, the shoes are silver...
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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people ...
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Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were Yours
A breathtaking read that will transport you over the rainbow and into the heart of one of America's most enduring fairy tales and the hardscrabble life that inspired it. Gripping, fascinating, Finding Dorothy is a novel for anyone who ever stared in awe as Oz came to life onscreen, and wondered what other secrets lay hidden behind the curtain. A dream of a book you'll want to savor and share!
