Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years #1) (1995)

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Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years #1) (1995)

by Gregory Maguire


Gregory Maguire’s novel fleshes out the character of the Wicked Witch of the East from L. Frank Baum’s “Wizard of Oz,” revealing her as a tragic figure in the true sense of the term, a character whose unfortunate fate is not simply imposed on her by events but is a natural, even inevitable, outcome of her own personality and character flaws. 

Gregory Maguire

It is a beautifully written portrait of Oz as a fully realized fantasy setting with its own geography, history, politics, and mysteries. 


This is not a happy story, but it is a very wise one. 


I was especially impressed by the way Maguire depicted how the vitality and fire of youth is tamed, diminished, and compromised by age.


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