Before the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy – Hazel Gaynor

Submitted: 19th May 2025

Before Dorothy

With all the Wicked fanfare going on at the moment, I was keen to be transported back to the story but see it from a new angle. This is the time before Dorothy even goes to Oz as the title suggests. What a time to return to! Singing Defying Gravity, I went in…..

Map of locations in Before Dorothy

Before the Wizard of Oz and Dorothy - Hazel Gaynor

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : Kansas and Oz

Author guide: Hazel Gaynor

Genre: historical fiction

Food and drink to accompany: Follow the yellow road and find out!

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A novel to transport you to Oz!

Map of locations in Before Dorothy

The Wizard of Oz is such an iconic story, film, musical etc that I was excited to get a novel that looked more closely at Dorothy and her Aunt Em. This book filled a gap I didn’t know I needed to be filled and that was a good feeling. Going in with some expectations but still being surprised and shocked and entertained.

It must be tricky for an author to walk the tightrope between fiction and more fiction. I mean, the story is so iconic so people are going to know about the characters already. What Hazel does however is to blend that in really well. Dorothy, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry are all there, as recognisable as ever. Oh and the blending of the original gang of the lion, scarecrow and co. That was such a joy that the author here had taken the magical moments and woven them into her own story.

This is really the story of Auntie Em and I adored her. How she ended up in Kansas, who she was and what she became was such a joy to discover. Of course, the sense of place is very well done but it goes further than that with the setting of the Great Depression and the location of the Dust Bowl being key parts of the story. When you add real life historical events to such a magically mixed story, it becomes very special indeed.

I feel that the only thing that would have made this even more of a special reading experience would have been a pair of shiny ruby slippers on my feet as I read.