Helpful Score: 1
This was a really enjoyable novel telling a fictionalized version of the life of Maud Gage Baum, the wife of L. Frank Baum who authored The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Maud Baum was the daughter of the suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage who worked diligently for women's right to vote alongside Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. As such, Maud was sent to Cornell University for a college education but sacrificed this after falling for Frank Baum. Baum was in the theater and wrote and starred in various plays. Maud traveled with him and when his stage days ended, he worked as a salesman and later the couple moved to South Dakota where Baum ran a dry goods store. Maud's sister Julia also lived with her younger husband on a remote farm in Dakota. Julia's daughter, Magdalena, became the inspiration for Dorothy.
The novel tells of the Baum's hardships in Dakota but also of the joys including Frank's usually upbeat attitude and his knack for telling stories which later resulted in THE WIZARD OF OZ. Many of the events in their life were incorporated into the novel especially the wish to be in a better place. Later in life, years after the passing of Frank, Maud visited the set of the movie version of Oz and tried to make sure that Judy Garland was safe and played the role as in the book. The novel switches back and forth between Maud's early life and her visit in 1939 to the set of the movie. The author notes in her Afterword that the novel came about after she found a picture of Maud and Judy sitting together reading a copy of Oz.
Overall, this was really a wonderful story. Although it's hard to tell how much of the story is true, the author did her research and most of it is based on facts. I've seen the movie version of Oz countless times beginning back in the 60s when it was shown every year on TV but I have to admit that I have never read the book it was based on. I plan to do so soon!
The novel tells of the Baum's hardships in Dakota but also of the joys including Frank's usually upbeat attitude and his knack for telling stories which later resulted in THE WIZARD OF OZ. Many of the events in their life were incorporated into the novel especially the wish to be in a better place. Later in life, years after the passing of Frank, Maud visited the set of the movie version of Oz and tried to make sure that Judy Garland was safe and played the role as in the book. The novel switches back and forth between Maud's early life and her visit in 1939 to the set of the movie. The author notes in her Afterword that the novel came about after she found a picture of Maud and Judy sitting together reading a copy of Oz.
Overall, this was really a wonderful story. Although it's hard to tell how much of the story is true, the author did her research and most of it is based on facts. I've seen the movie version of Oz countless times beginning back in the 60s when it was shown every year on TV but I have to admit that I have never read the book it was based on. I plan to do so soon!
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