Was
Book description
Dorothy, orphaned in the 1870s, goes to live with her Aunty Em and Uncle Henry. Baby Frances sings with her family on stage in the 1920s. From the settling of the West and the heyday of the studios, to the metropolis of modern Los Angeles, this book follows the development…
Why read it?
3 authors picked Was as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Oh, Was, how I love your relentlessly bleak, depressing sadness.
This is a strangely inventive novel that twines reality and fantasy into a brutal, desolate, yet gorgeous story of pain and survival. Told from the points of view of numerous characters, each story is tethered in some way to The Wizard of Oz, that venerable fable about good versus evil in the search for home.
Ryman introduces us to a main trio of characters whose lives are all equally harrowing–Dorothy Gael (the imagined inspiration for The Wizard of Oz heroine and the victim of familial sexual abuse), Frances…
From Jeffrey's list on LGBT+ novels that haunt me (in a good way).
Ryman describes himself as a fantasy writer who fell in love with realism, and there’s something of that in each of the novels I’ve chosen here. In Was he draws together three story strands and weaves from them something unique and moving around the cultural tentpole of The Wizard of Oz. The main strand concerns little Dorothy Gael whose harsh life inspires Baum’s fictional revision of her unhappy childhood: then there’s ‘baby Frances’ who, as Judy Garland, embodies Dorothy in screen fantasy: and Frank, a dying man for whom Garland’s movie has been a lifelong obsession and source of…
From Stephen's list on reality charged with energy of the dark fantastic.
Was jumps back and forth over a century, from the 1870s to the 1990s, telling the stories of a half dozen characters—including the "real" Dorothy Gael and the young Judy Garland—all connected by their relation to L. Frank Baum’s Oz novels.
This is a moving story about how people cope with troubles they cannot overcome, finding healing in the midst of tragedy. I really like the many subtle ways Oz weaves in and out of the characters’ lives, through fantasy and reality: indulging in fantasy may lead people to behave destructively, but it also offers escape when we are feeling…
From John's list on retelling of classic stories with a fantasy twist.
Want books like Was?
Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Was.
5 book lists we think you will like!
-
-
-
-
-
Interested in HIV/AIDS, Kansas, and homesteading?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about HIV/AIDS, Kansas, and homesteading.