Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory MacGuire

Reviewed by: Slappy

I know that most of you who saw this novel on Amazon.com almost immediately shrugged it off as just another sequel to The Wizard of Oz. You could not be further removed from the truth. We all have seen the movie countless times, and some of us in our lives have managed to wade through Baum’s children’s book (yeah, right) in which Dorothy wreaks havoc on the sister witches of East and West Oz. However, until you read Wicked, you have not experienced the full spectrum of the darkness and all too human acting citizens of Oz.

In The Wizard of Oz, we heard the story of Dorothy Gale (funny, her name was Gale and she was carried away by a twister … Baum was nothing if not imaginative), what happened to her (and her little dog, too) in Oz and how she handled the Wicked Witch of the West and what her impressions of said witch were. In Wicked, we hear the story of Elphaba, the true name of the Wicked Witch of the West, who was born to a minister and his comely wife from Rush Margins, a territory of Oz. Despite the ailment of being born with a skin condition which rendered her a greenish glow and posessing naturally sharp, pointed teeth, Elphaba was nothing more or nothing less than anyone else born in those days in Oz. Gnawed by a desire for truth and knowledge, she patiently waits until she can attend the University in Shiz (she eventually meets Galinda, a student of sorcery who later shortened her name to Glinda and became Witch of the North) where she attempts to blend into Shizonian society despite her appearance. However, shunned by her freakish nature and misunderstood by most citizens, Elphaba gladly accepts the role of witch that the world has given her. Led by despair and loneliness, Elphaba becomes more disenchanted with each passing year, until the fateful day her sister (Nessarose, by name) is killed by a strange house which fell from the sky. Which is where most of us remember the story, if only from Dorothy’s viewpoint.

Gregory Maguire, a children’s novelist, has taken license with Baum’s Oz and crafted a unique and intelligently written fable for adults. I strongly recommend this book as required reading to all who thought that witches are all greenfaced wicked individuals. Sometimes, the wicked people are in fact the most compassionate of all.

Hardcover 1 Ed edition (January 1999) Little Brown Company; ISBN: 0316152196; Dimensions (in inches): 1.40 x 9.49 x 6.45