Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

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.

Advance praise for Finding Dorothy

Old Hollywood is its own kind of Oz in Finding Dorothy, complete with false dazzle and complex combinations of threat and allure. But what really satisfies here is the unlikely friendship between L. Frank Baum's unsinkable widow, Maud, and the young Judy Garland, on the vulnerable cusp of fame. It's an alliance that seems touched with magic and serendipity and something even more transformative, true understanding between women.--Paula McLain, author of Love and Ruin

Elizabeth Letts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion, The Perfect Horse, and two earlier novels, Quality of Care and Family Planning, which won the 2017 PEN Center USA Literary Prize for research nonfiction. She was also a member of the Peace Corps in Morocco as a qualified nurse-midwife. She splits her time between Northern Michigan and Southern California.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780525622109
ISBN 10	0525622101
Title	Finding Dorothy
Author	Elizabeth Letts
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2019-02-12
Number of pages	368
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.