Fiction Review: Finding Dorothy

Book By Book

I was intrigued by the premise of Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts, so I chose it as my January review book for Shelf Awareness. It far surpassed my expectations!

This magical, unique novel features parallel narratives. In one story, Maud Baum, widow of Frank L. Baum, gets involved with the making of the movie adaptation, The Wizard of Oz, of Frank’s book in the 1930′s. In the other, Maud is a child, growing up in the 1870′s in upstate New York with her suffragette mother and kind father. The two stories alternate, so the reader goes along as Maud meets and marries Frank and they raise their children and also sees the details of their lives that made it into Frank’s famous children’s book…and eventually onto a Hollywood soundstage.

The novel is beautifully written, the characters are three-dimensional, the historical fiction is fascinating, and the behind-the-scenes details of a beloved Hollywood classic (one of my personal favorites) are such fun! I really loved this novel!

You can read my full review at Shelf Awareness.

368 pages, Ballantine Books

Listen to a sample of the audio book – it sounds wonderful!