Finding Dorothy: A Novel

Finding Dorothy: A Novel

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 Baumâ€™s intrepid wife, Maud.

â€œA breathtaking read that will transport you over the rainbow and into the heart of one of Americaâ€™s most enduring fairy tales.â€â€”Lisa Wingate, author ofÂ Before We Were Yours

Hollywood, 1938: As soon as she learns that M-G-M is adapting her late husbandâ€™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 Frankâ€™s passing, Maud is the only person who can help the producers stay true to the spirit of the bookâ€”because sheâ€™s the only one left who knows its secrets.

But the moment she hears Judy Garland rehearsing the first notes of â€œOver the Rainbow,â€ Maud recognizes the yearning that defined her own life story, from her youth as a suffragetteâ€™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 inspiredÂ The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Judy reminds Maud of a youngÂ 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 herâ€”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 Lettsâ€™s journey into the amazing lives of Frank and Maud Baum. Written as fiction but based closely on the truth, Elizabeth Lettsâ€™s new book tells a story of love, loss, inspiration, and perseverance, set in Americaâ€™s heartland.

Praise for Finding Dorothy

â€œIn some ways reminiscent of Jerry Stahlâ€™s excellentÂ I, Fatty,Â Lettsâ€™Â Finding DorothyÂ combines exhaustive research with expansive imagination, blending history and speculation intoÂ a seamless tapestry. . . .Â Itâ€™s a testament to Lettsâ€™ skill that she can capture on the page, without benefit of audio, that same emotion we have all felt sometime over the last 80 years while listening to â€˜Over the Rainbow.â€™â€â€”BookPageÂ (starred review)
Country USA
Manufacturer Ballantine Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2019-02-12
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Ballantine Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2019-02-12
Format	Kindle eBook

Finding Dorothy: A Novel

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