Finding Dorothy by Elizabeht Letts - Review

Book details

Hardcover : 368 pages

ISBN-10 : 1529403448

ISBN-13 : 978-1529403442

Publisher : Quercus (April 4, 2019)

Book description

Behind the most famous movie ever made is a tale of love, magic and one incredible woman

Hollywood, 1938: As soon as she learns that M-G-M is adapting her late husband's masterpiece, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, for the screen, Maud Gage Baum sets about trying to visit 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 rebellious 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 his famous work. 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.

Meet the author - Elizabeth Letts

If you want to know why I’m a writer, you’d have to thank Mrs. Barclay, the children’s librarian in the Malaga Cove Library in Palos Verdes, California, and my mother. who has read more books than anyone else I know, and who carted me to the library from the time I could barely walk. From the day I sounded out my first board book (Ann Likes Red), read my first poem (Block City, by Robert Louis Stevenson) and was swept up in my first long chapter book, (Little House in the Big Woods) I’ve been a passionate reader and fascinated by the lives and personalities of my favorite authors. But I was a late bloomer. I spent my twenties and thirties working as a nurse-midwife and raising four children. When I turned forty, I decided that I didn’t want to be one of those people who thought she had a book in her but never gave it a try, and I sat down to write my first novel. Now, writing is my full-time pursuit. My passions are horses and all animals, my children, singing in a choir, and long road trips through the backroads of America. I care deeply about issues that affect women and children, and especially those who are fleeing danger. But my favorite hobby is still the one that Mrs. Barclay and my mom got me started on-- reading.

www.elizabethletts.com
Twitter: @elizabethletts
Facebook: www.facebook.com/eightydollarchampion
instagram elizabethletts

My thoughts

When I first heard about this book I knew I would have to read it as I am a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz and always have been. This book was easy to read and enjoyable. I like that the story went between when the movie was being filmed and Maud’s life. I had some questions while reading the book about what was based on fact and what was what the author added, but the author answered those questions in the afterward that was included. So, I highly recommend reading that as well. I found Maud’s like to be tough in some aspects and nice in others. I did not know that her mom had such a part in women’s history. To be honest I knew nothing of Maud until reading this book. I am going to now look into reading one or more of the biographies that Elizabeth mentions in the afterward as I want to know more about Frank and Maud. I also liked how the author had Maud wanting to make sure the movie did justice to the story that Frank wrote and looked out for Judy. I did not realize how much of the story of the Wizard of Oz has snippets of Frank and Maud’s life. I highly recommend this book