Finding Dorothy

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts. New York: Ballantine Books, 2019. 351 pages. ****

The blurb inside the front cover sets the stage "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."
Letts takes us from Hollywood, 1938, to ten-year-old Maud in Fayetteville, New York in 1871 and back again. She provides an insight into Maud's unconventional family, her mother, a suffragette, calls Susan B. Anthony "Auntie," and encourages Maud to be independent. When Maud goes to college, she has a hard time fitting in with the other students especially when her roommate suggests that Maud be like a plant, somewhat invisible. Maud eventually meets L. Frank Baum, the free- spirited cousin of her roommate, and is able to remain true to herself while being a wife and mother.
In 1938 Maud makes it her mission to hold MGM accountable for preserving the character of Dorothy in Frank's book. She's not too sure about Judy Garland in that role until she hears Judy sing.
This insight into the world of film and producers in the 1930s reminds me that not much has changed since then as evidenced in the Harvey Weinstein allegations.

A thoroughly enjoyable read and will absolutely appeal to Wizard of Oz fans. The story behind the song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and a look behind the scenes of the movie made this book fascinating to me. Historical fiction provides a glimpse into the past in an enriched format. The storyteller takes an incident, event, or person from history and weaves a believable tale to enlighten the reader. Well done, Elizabeth Letts.


ELIZABETH LETTS is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of both historical fiction and non-fiction. #1 New York Times Bestseller The Eighty-Dollar Champion was a 2011 Indie Next Pick, a Goodreads Reader’s Choice Finalist and winner of the 2012 Daniel P Lenehan Award for Media Excellence from the United States Equestrian Foundation and is currently in development as a feature film at MGM Studios. Her second work of non-fiction, The Perfect Horse was a New York Times bestseller and the winner of the 2017 Pen USA Literary Award for Research Nonfiction and is available in a young reader edition. Her most recent book, Finding Dorothy, is on sale now. She is also the author of two novels, Quality of Care and Family Planning, and an award-winning children’s book, The Butter Man. A graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Nursing, she is a passionate equestrian, a former certified nurse-midwife, and she served in the Peace Corps in Morocco. She lives in Southern California and Northern Michigan.

 For more information:
www.elizabethletts.com 
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