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.
"A breathtaking read that will transport you over the rainbow and into
the heart of one of America's most enduring fairy tales."--Lisa Wingate,
author of Before We Were Yours
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.
Praise for Finding Dorothy
"In some ways reminiscent of Jerry Stahl's excellent I, Fatty, Letts'
Finding Dorothy combines exhaustive research with expansive
imagination, blending history and speculation into a seamless tapestry.
. . . It's a testament to Letts' 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 'Over the
Rainbow.'"--BookPage (starred review)
