Finding Dorothy

I have been so excited to read Finding Dorothy since it started popping up on my Instagram. I love historical fiction and as a child I loved The Wizard of Oz so I just had to get this.

The story is about the author Frank Baum's wife Maud, and how she tries to protect his dream when MGM make his beloved book into what will become one of the biggest movies of all time.

Told from alternating timelines, the story starts in 1930's Hollywood when Maud tries to get a meeting with Louis Mayer as she desperate to make sure they stay true to the spirit of her late husband's book. Maud is a formidable woman, the daughter of a famous suffragist, she is not prepared to take no for an answer. She soon makes it onto the set, where Frank's dream has been brought to life, and she meets Judy Garland, but is she the right girl to platy Dorothy?

The other part of the book goes back to Maud's childhood and carries through to her meeting Frank and how they fall in love and get married. Throughout the story, there are little hints of moments that Frank will later take as the inspiration to create Ox, including finding out who Dorothy really is.

There is so much to this book, it is so vivid in its storytelling that whenever I put it down I felt like I had been dreaming. Maud was an amazing woman and the friendship she strikes up with Judy Garland was so lovely. It is quite shocking when you look at the way this young star was treated, thankfully she had the watchful eye of Maud to protect her.

Finding Dorothy is a beautiful and captivating novel that lifts the curtain and reveals some of the secrets about this classic movie. I really enjoyed reading this on and I'm just going to have to take myself off to watch the movie again now.