Maguire, Gregory. Wicked. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995. 406 pages. (Fantasy)
Everybody knows the Wicked Witch of the West. Her plot to get her dead sister’s shoes from Dorothy ended up killing her. And, of course, we were all glad when she died. We were rooting for Dorothy. But how did the Wicked Witch of the West become so evil? Did she have a real name? What about a mother and a father? The truth is she grew up fairly normally. Her name was Elphaba. She had a mother and a father, though the second was unknown for a time. And she grew up in Munchkinland and Quadling Country with her mother, until her death, her father, Frex, her sister, Nessarose, and her brother, Shell. She was born green, as her sister was born with no arms. She was accepted into Shiz University along with Nessarose and Galinda. There at Shiz, their futures unfolded.
Elphaba- The Wicked Witch of the West
Nessarose- The Wicked Witch of the East
Glinda- The Good Witch of the North
Three childhood friends, three witches working towards different causes. What went wrong?
This book was a masterpiece of literature! It was very difficult to follow at the beginning, but if you stick to it your patience will be rewarded. It is very interesting to have The Wizard of Oz told from a different point of view. I know I will never watch that movie again with the same mind set. Whereas as before I was rooting for Dorothy, now I will be rooting for Elphaba. Maguire does a great job of having her start out as a poor, helpless, innocent, little child and in the end, she is almost as heartless as she seems in the movie. Still, knowing her past and so much she lost it is impossible not to feel pity for her. One of the most famous villain’s story, retold!
Reviewed By: DancingPenguin96
