After Oz

De: Gordon McAlpine

Narrado por: Maria Ru-Djen

This gripping and emotionally riveting tale is a dark and timely retelling of The Wizard of Oz, where one little girl is forced to face head-on the prejudices of the Midwest in the late nineteenth century.

Kansas, 1896. After a tornado destroys the Gale family farm, eleven-year-old Dorothy goes missing. As the days pass, the Gales are increasingly terrified the worst has happened. But when the girl turns up unharmed four days later, the townsfolk breathe a sigh of relief. That is, until Dorothy herself relates her account of the events that took place during her disappearance.

In vivid detail, Dorothy describes a fantastical land and its magical inhabitants: a scarecrow, a tin man, a cowardly lion, a wizard, a witch. Her recollections are not only regarded as delusional, but also as pagan and diabolical in nature, especially when the body of a local spinster is found matching Dorothy's description of a witch she claims to have killed. Authorities find incriminating evidence tying Dorothy to the real murder, and they sentence Dorothy to the Topeka Insane Asylum.

When twenty-eight-year-old psychologist Dr. Evelyn Grace Wilford arrives at the asylum to interview Dorothy, she begins to wonder if Dorothy truly committed the crime, or if something unfathomable has really occurred.

In a small town full of insidious secrets, Evelyn sets out to save Dorothy from her terrible circumstances, but can't help but fear whether something menacing may be lurking just out of sight.

©2024 Gordon McAlpine (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

What a wonderful story idea!

The idea that Dorothy would have to explain her bizarre story about the land of Oz to her uptight, conservative community, and then top it off with a murder mystery, was an extremely intriguing story to me. How could I not see how it all unfolded? I thought the author did an outstanding job at unraveling it all … right up to the final twist! I really enjoyed the story and the narration was very professionally done. Highly recommend this title as well as the audiobook.

Really enjoyed it!

Overall I really liked After Oz! It was a unique journey following the aftermath of Dorothy’s trip to Oz, but through the lens of a crime drama. The performance was very well done and kept me engaged the entire time. I loved all the twists and it definitely kept me guessing the entire time. It felt like the perfect length, not too drawn out but long enough to get you absorbed into the story. Feel like I’ll be coming back to this one just so I can experience it all over again and see how things line up now that I know the entire story. If you like The Wizard of Oz and enjoy mysteries/crime dramas I’d definitely recommend After Oz!

The book was well written. It drew you in and showed a different view of what happened to Dorothy after she visited Oz.

Did not dislike book. Was not on board to read it but read it anyway for book club. Ended up loving the book

A Twist on a Classic

What Wicked does for the infamous green skinned minor antagonist in Baum’s original, this does for Dorothy Gale.

Upon Dorothy’s unexpected survival four days after the faithful storm, her tale is largely considered a delusion, until the body of the town’s spinster is discovered, melted by lye and with the 11 year old the presumptive killer.

Told alternately by an unnamed townsperson and Dr. Evelyn Wilford, who doesn’t believe Dorothy is the true killer, Alpine’s story unfolds and juxtaposes the logic and psychology and rational thinking against the dangers of small town religiosity and irrationality. While it plays out in the tradition of Doyle and Christie, it retains its own voice and echos sentiments that are still playing out today.

Highly recommend this if you’re a fan of Oz, mysteries, and/or revisionist looks at classic literature.

Meh....

Not sure how I feel about this book. it was definitely a slow burn, I liked thw idea of where I thought it was going but where it ended was pretty dry. Too much reality mixed to be fiction in my opinion