Marian McHugh contributed this review.
Have you ever wondered about what happened in the Land of Oz before that do-gooder Dorothy and her dog Toto came on the scene and saved the world? Well, Gregory Maguire did, and he took the process one step further – he wrote a book. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is the result of Maguire’s ponderings.
Did you know that the Wicked Witch of the West was actually named Elphaba, and that she could sing like a nightingale? Or that her sister, of the red shoes fame, was named Nessarose and was born without arms? Did you know that Glinda the good (born Galinda) was, when she was young, a spoilt brat who cared for little other than her beauty and being in the “right” social crowd? All these questions are answered, plus more postulated between the covers of Wicked.
Wicked is, in fact, the biography of Elphaba – the Wicked Witch of the West. We follow her steps from her birth right through to her death. We see how she copes as an odd child, having been born with green skin and an avid fear of water. We then follow her on to her years at University, where she shares a room with Glinda and is accepted by her group of friends. Then there is her time in the Emerald City, where she works with other subversives to try and overthrow the Wizard. It is during this time that she has her one and only love affair, which ends in tragedy. Then there is her time in religious sanctuary, which ends when she realises that she must go and confess to the widow of her lover, and, finally, there’s her demise at the hands of Dorothy.
Maguire has written an extremely entertaining story for adults who remember singing along with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, and being scared of the Wicked Witch of the West in the movie, The Wizard of Oz. Instead of being afraid of Elphaba, you will find yourself empathising with her, realising that she was just human, and that it was circumstances and society that made her what she was.
I thoroughly enjoyed Wicked. It is very well written, and Douglas Smith has executed the pen drawings that illustrate each section with great skill. We are also very thoughtfully provided with a map of the Land of Oz, which helps the reader keep track of Elphaba’s travels.
Wicked is Maguire’s first novel, and I’m looking forward to more offerings from this talented author who has lived in New York, Cambridge, Boston, London and Dublin, and has a doctorate from Tufts University.
(ReganBooks, 1995)
