by Geoff Ryman
First published 1994
Jonathan's life intersects with Dorothy Gael, the real girl who inspired Baum's famous character. The story moves between different time periods and places across America, following characters whose fates become linked through the Oz mythology. A young boy faces abuse in rural Kansas. An actor struggles with his identity after playing the Tin Man. An AIDS patient finds solace in the familiar tale. Each person discovers how a children's story can reshape reality and provide escape from harsh circumstances. The novel weaves together their experiences, showing how imagination becomes a survival tool. Baum's creation and the MGM adaptation take on new meaning as these lives unfold. The characters must navigate between the world they know and the world they wish existed. Their stories reveal how fiction can transform both suffering and hope into something larger than individual experience.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, abuse, 20th-century, fantasy, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: America, Kansas, Oz
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
Hardcover · Random House Value Publishing
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness