Loved this take an Auntie Em!
Before Dorothy explores Emily Kelley before and after she becomes Emily Gale, including how Dorothy comes to live with her and Uncle Henry. With dual timelines of 1924 Chicago and Kansas a decade later, we learn so much about Emily as a young woman, a new wife, and an aunt who becomes caregiver.
I just adored Emily and was fascinated at the thought of her as a youthful, modern, city woman who more than willingly gives it up to become a prairie wife, while staying true to herself. Her assimilation into her new community wasn’t necessarily and easy one, and thought the Kansas characters were great additions. I especially warmed to the character of Adelaide, a female pilot who smashes societal expectations and gives energy to the women in Kansas.
Spread throughout the book are not-so-subtle references to The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy’s lion stuffed animal), as well as those done on the sly (is Adelaide Glinda the Good Witch?) I thought all those pieces were done well.
The theme of roles women play in each other’s lives was present throughout the book. We saw that prominently in Emily’s Kansas community but I wish we had more of Emily and her two sisters, one of whom has already left for a new life when the book begins. I was so intrigued by their relationships and definitely wanted more.
The author did a nice job of weaving in the very difficult life of homesteading, and the very real consequences of the Dust Bowl, a time in U.S. history when severe dust storms all but destroyed middle America. I honestly don’t know great details about this time, but the author’s narrative transported me right there. Through her writing, Gaynor honors the land shows respect for the people who tend to it.
Completely unexpected was the author’s decision to make Emily, her sisters and parents Irish immigrants. It made sense, though, as another theme was the idea around what makes a place home, finding home (there’s no place like home!).
All in all, I really enjoyed Before Dorothy. Definitely recommend!
I received an advance review copy from BookBrowse for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.
There’s no place like home.
by Hazel Gaynor
I loved Hazel Gaynor’s 2023 release, The Last Lifeboat, so I wanted to read this historical fiction read by her. From only seeing Auntie Em in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, as an older woman, it was nice to see her transformed to Emily Gale — a vibrant young woman who journeyed from Chicago to the Kansas prairie. We see her as a newlywed ready to move where Henry wanted to farm — the Great Plains. Emily had a special bond to her sister, Annie, which became strained by distance, secrets, and the paths that each chose. When tragedy strikes and Dorothy lands on Emily and Henry’s doorstep, Emily struggles with her own limitations. The landscape of the prairie lifestyle that Gaynor portrays is with a deep sense of realism. You can taste and feel the dust and grit. I think she captured the stark beauty of the prairie along with the relentless hardships of life in the Great Plains. The bond with Dorothy shifts from distant, to duty, to something more richer with the shared grief, and quite understanding they form. Gaynor’s blending of historical fiction with literary reimagining of this classic (The Wizard of Oz) worked for me. I enjoyed all the “Easter Eggs” throughout as a nod to The Wizard of Oz.
This is a story of identity, family, the resilience of women, bonds between sisters, mothers, and daughters, and the quiet courage it takes to carry on when everything seems lost.
Thank you to BookBrowse for the book to read.
Cliched and Sentimental Writing
Any character “secrets” are revealed long in advance, and everything that happens feels quite predictable — bright promising young Emily is worn down and hardened by prairie life during the Dust Bowl. The writing is cliched, full of too many adjectives (plus endless ruby-red and emerald-green objects!), and far too many heavy-handed metaphors (“a cyclone of emotion,” etc). Lots of one word sentences: “Dust. Dirt. Life. Death.”
The dialogue often seems pulled from a corny 1940s B-movie. And foreshadowing every detail of the Wizard of Oz by tying it to something in reality (Dorothy has a toy lion, tin man and scarecrow, a little hourglass, there is an aerial circus balloonist turned fraudulent rainmaker, etc) – was actually irritating to me, as it flattened the magic and strangeness of L. Frank Baum’s highly imaginative, inventive world, making it all “explainable.” (In the book the magic of Dorothy’s adventure in Oz is simply true, and not explained away as a ‘just a dream’).
I did like the addition of female aviator (who later “becomes” the good witch), and it was also somewhat interesting to read about what happened after the big tornado. (Note that two-thirds of the story happens AFTER Dorothy enters Emily’s life, though). I felt obliged to read my free advance copy, but otherwise, I honestly don’t think I would have finished this book.
