Finding Dorothy

This richly imagined novel tells the story behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,the book that inspired the iconic filmthrough the eyes of author L. Frank BaumΓÇÖs intrepid wifeMaud. ΓÇ£A breathtaking read that will transport you over the rainbow and into the heart of one of AmericaΓÇÖs most enduring fairy tales.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöLisa Wingateauthor of Before We Were Yours Hollywood1938: As soon as she learns that M-G-M is adapting her late husbandΓÇÖs masterpiece for the screenseventy-seven-year-old Maud Gage Baum sets about trying to finagle her way onto the set. Nineteen years after FrankΓÇÖs passingMaud is the only person who can help the producers stay true to the spirit of the bookΓÇöbecause sheΓÇÖs the only one left who knows its secrets. But the moment she hears Judy Garland rehearsing the first notes of ΓÇ£Over the RainbowΓÇ¥ Maud recognizes the yearning that defined her own life storyfrom her youth as a suffragetteΓÇÖs daughter to her coming of age as one of the first women in the Ivy Leaguefrom 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 Dakotaa dreamer who never got her happy ending. Nowwith the young actress under pressure from the studio as well as her ambitious stage motherMaud resolves to protect herΓÇöthe way she tried so hard to protect the real Dorothy. The author of two New York Times bestselling nonfiction booksThe Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect HorseElizabeth 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 LettsΓÇÖs journey into the amazing lives of Frank and Maud Baum. Written as fiction but based closely on the truthElizabeth LettsΓÇÖs new book tells a story of lovelossinspirationand perseveranceset in AmericaΓÇÖs heartland. Praise for Finding Dorothy ΓÇ£In some ways reminiscent of Jerry StahlΓÇÖs excellent IFattyLettsΓÇÖ Finding Dorothy combines exhaustive research with expansive imaginationblending history and speculation into a seamless tapestry. . . . ItΓÇÖs a testament to LettsΓÇÖ skill that she can capture on the pagewithout benefit of audiothat same emotion we have all felt sometime over the last 80 years while listening to ΓÇÿOver the Rainbow.ΓÇÖΓÇ¥ΓÇöBookPage (starred review)