The Wicked Witch of the West’s origin story is revealed in this new novel by Gregory Maguire, author of the bestseller Wicked. When a young girl arrives in Oz, she will embark on an adventure that will test her resourcefulness and lead her to a destiny she could never have imagined. Dorothy must have wondered these things when she returned home to Kansas. And now we have the answers! This bestselling novel tells the story of Elphaba, whose life was transformed by her meeting with a young girl who had floated down from a tornado-swept sky.
The Wicked Witch of the West is one of the popular culture’s most enduring and enigmatic figures. But what was the inspiration behind her creation? Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West reveals how a provincial farm girl named Elphaba reacted to her world, filled with bustling cities, distant wars, and arcane powers. Maguire’s brilliant novel dares to answer this question through an imagined history that draws on themes from Jewish folklore, Celtic myth, Christian theology and classic children’s stories while also probing deeply into the human psyche.
The Wicked Witch of the West has been one of literature’s most enduring villains, but what makes her so wicked? In this captivating novel, Gregory Maguire presents the life story of Elphaba, an outcast from birth who grows up to be a sorceress. Raised in secret by a good witch and her husband, Elphaba hides her unearthly green skin and tries to live among ordinary people. But when she returns to school and discovers that some young witches are being sent to training camps where they will be transformed into flying monkeys – or worse – Elphaba decides that it is time to fight back.
About Wicked Book
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L, Frank Baum’s classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?
Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens. Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
An astonishingly rich re-creation of the land of Oz, this book retells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn’t so wicked after all. Taking readers past the yellow brick road and into a phantasmagoric world rich with imagination and allegory, Gregory Maguire might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters in literature.
