I’ve never been a particular fan of The Wizard of Oz and the winged monkeys in the movie scared me as a kid which also didn’t make me a fan.
But I have enjoyed the books that stemmed from Baum’s books in recent years.
I never gave any thought to Auntie Em’s background until Gaynor’s book.
I loved how she wove the movie’s best known parts into her stories, sometimes overt, others covertly for readers to find.
The Dust Bowl has been written about countless times but Gaynor does it with much finesse and candor with hope and magic mixed in.
Oz fans will inhale this book in the best way!

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor
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We all know who Dorothy is and about her trip to Oz. But what about Auntie Em? What experiences shaped her into the woman she is? What brought her to Kansas? And what was Dorothy’s mother like?
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Before Dorothy is a historical fiction surrounding Emily and her sister Annie as they start out as young woman. They soon meet the Gale men: rich and successful John and his cousin, Henry.

I really liked what the author did with this story. It was an emotional journey following Emily as she chased her dreams of love and freedom and adventure. I loved how the story focused on Emily and how even though she wasn’t Dorothy’s mother she still was able to pass on memories from her own parents and homeland of Ireland.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This wasn’t a retelling but a story behind the story and I loved all the little easter eggs to The Wizard of Oz that were in here.

A little underwhelming. First 25% of the book was promising, the rest seemed more like a redundant history lesson (which is not necessarily a bad thing, I was just expecting more about Auntie Em as a person). While the story is told from Emily’s point of view, it seemed like she took a backseat to the other characters and circumstances.

3.5 stars rounded up


Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read this book!

Last year, I read and enjoyed a book called After Oz, which was about Dorothy's return to Kansas after her trip to Oz. When I saw that this was about Auntie Em's adventure from Chicago to Kansas, long before Dorothy arrives on the scene and after, I had to have it. I also loved Hazel Gaynor's 2023 release, The Last Lifeboat, so it was a no-brainer for me to request this, and am I ever glad I did.

This was such an enchanting story that details the real-life inspiration behind Baum's Oz series. The author weaves historical details and a plot that brings to life the depression era struggles that led to the iconic books. The characters are complex, multi-faceted, and vividly portrayed, and I was completely invested in their story. Gaynor writes historical fiction wonderfully, and she paints a vivid portrait of depression era America and the people who inspired the books. The historical accuracy with which she writes and the emotional depth shine through.

This book is the perfect mix of historical detail and emotion, with well-developed characters. This one left me with a new appreciation for The Wizard of Oz; it is truly a gem of a read. I highly recommend this to any reader who loves historical fiction and/or Oz. I think it's time I add Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts to my TBR. Maybe I'll hit the trifecta on Wizard of Oz historical books.

As a 35 yr fan of The movie, The Wizard of Oz, I was so excited for this book and it didn't disappoint me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved this book so much, I didn't want it to end.

4.5⭐️ As a lover of The Wizard of Oz movie, the synopsis of this book intrigued me immediately. This classic story plus historical fiction? Sign me up!

The writing alone had me captivated. The rich descriptions of the vast Kansas prairie, both its beauty and its darker sides, had me transported to this time. I haven’t read much historical fiction from this time period, so I liked getting that background and learning about it through these characters. This book explores who Emily (Auntie Em) was before the events of the movie: who she was as a young woman, how she came to Kansas, and how Dorothy came to live with her.

The amount of Easter Eggs for The Wizard of Oz throughout this book was so much fun. I absolutely loved all the references, and the many ways Gaynor incorporated them within a different, realistic kind of story was great. That said, people who aren’t that familiar with The Wizard of Oz would still enjoy the story, and wouldn’t miss anything by not knowing the references.

This ended up being so much more than I was expecting, and I loved where it took the classic story.

I requested this book in digital format so I could better moderate a discussion for BookBrowse.com, so I didn't write a full review of the novel.

I'm kind of on the fence about it, actually. I thought it was OK - I enjoyed it for the most part. But there's something about it I felt was lacking. In part I never really felt like I got to know the real Em (let alone any of the other characters). I think the other issue was that I'd just read The Antidote a few weeks ago - novel was also about the Dust Bowl = which I felt gave a much better feel for the times and what it was like to live during such a terrible natural disaster. And I also really disliked the little additions that the author inserted regarding The Wizard of Oz. I thought that they were unnecessary and distracting. I'm rounding up to a four, but it was really more like a 3.5 for me.

I’m always up for a backstory on minor characters from beloved stories, and this one was so good! Having grown up watching The Wizard of Oz and having seen Wicked several times—a story about Auntie Em was a perfect addiction to the world of Oz.

This book follows Emily, who having lived in Chicago with her sister Annie, dreams of a life on the prairie in Kansas. She meets and marries Henry, who shares her dream, and they leave the city behind. A horrible tragedy befalls Annie and her husband and Emily brings her niece Dorothy home to Kansas. Their life in Kansas becomes far from dreamy as they endure life during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and Emily navigates their new life as a family of three while also keeping secrets from Annie’s past.

I have only read one other book by Hazel Gaynor, which I loved, so I was excited to pick this one up. She does a beautiful job putting us right into the story and really feeling for her characters. The way she wove all the call backs to The Wizard of Oz was so delightful and so well done. I love how she created a world in which you totally believe Dorothy would have imagined Oz from this world around her.

I loved that the overall theme is learning what home really means and being with those you love! A perfect tie back to the famous line “There’s no place like home!”

Recommended for all Oz/Wicked fans, origin story, and historical fiction readers!

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an early copy of this ebook*

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor, when the book starts it’s 1932 and Emily Gail is going back to Chicago to get Dorothy because her beloved sister Annie died in a boating accident with her husband John. while doing the things she has to do to bring Dorothy to Kansas to live with her and Henry she thinks back on her journey with her family and sister Annie. this is where I thought the author did a great job laying the foundation for the bond she had and has with her family. There’s also a shock and twist in this part of the book that I did not see coming but yet it seemed apropos to the story. and the rest of the book we get to see auntie M and uncle Henry as they build something they hope will be the rest of their life in Kansas and as they navigate being farmers every now and then we get to see things in the 1930s come to visit the Gail’s on the Homestead. The book ends where it started with family and let me just say I really was shocked at the ending but it totally fit with the story Miss Gaynor told. I also thought she did a brilliant job putting in the things that would one day live in Oz with Dorothy and I love when she says without the wicked we couldn’t have had the wonderful. There were so many great quotes from the author of Wizard of Oz something I absolutely love. I could read anything about the Wizard of Oz and although I don’t always enjoy it or rather I enjoy others more than as for this book I absolutely loved it! from the red and silver shoes to the lion the tin man scarecrow and on and on I thought she brilliantly laid each Easter egg and it seemed to fit an all tie in with Dorothy‘s bigger adventure. I also want to say I thought Annie came off as quite selfish and maybe there was something I wasn’t picking up that the author was putting down but I almost didn’t like her. There are a couple of small twist and or scandals in the book we even get to see where the wicked witch comes from and I loved it all. #NetGalley, #BerkeleyPublishing, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #HazelGaynor, #BeforeDorothy,

This was everything that I was looking for from a before Oz book, it was great getting into Auntie Em's story and was everything that I was expecting and enjoyed from this type of book. Hazel Gaynor was able to weave a story where I cared about the characters and wanted to read more. It was so well done and am excited for more from Hazel Gaynor.

This is clearly my favorite book of the year so far, which not only includes NetGalley books but also others that I read. It is one of the few where I am contemplating buying a hard copy, I loved it that much. This is also the first book written by Ms. Gaynor alone that I have read; I have read ones she has cowritten with Heather Webb.
I am sure I will find a flaw in it somewhere but looking back on what I read, nothing comes to mind.
It helps to love The Wizard of Oz. This is a story about Aunt Emily before her niece Dorothy comes into her life until after she goes to Kansas after her mother died. We did not really know much about Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in the movie but I did like them. It is impossible not to love them after reading this book. This novel incorporated elements of the story from the movie but added things that made sense. I admire the author's skill at weaving these things together. I was waiting to read this, trying to get through other things on my queue but read it at a time that I was (am) ill and needed a lift.
If you are looking for an involving story that is not happy go lucky but is heartwarming all the same, this is the book for you. And if you love The Wizard of Oz, you really cannot go wrong.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkeley for providing me with an advanced copy of this wonderful novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

I just finished Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor, and I have to say, I didn’t expect to be this emotionally invested in the origin story of a character from The Wizard of Oz, but wow, it really got me.

This book takes you way back, imagining the life of Maud Baum, the wife of L. Frank Baum, the man who created Oz. I honestly had no idea how fascinating her story was. Maud is smart, stubborn, and constantly pushing against the limits placed on women at the time, which made her super relatable even though the setting is over a century ago.

What I really loved was how the book blended history and fiction so naturally. I felt like I was learning something while also getting completely wrapped up in the story. Hazel Gaynor really brought Maud to life. You can feel all the love, frustration, and passion she had, especially her desire to protect imagination and believe in something bigger than what was right in front of her.

It’s not one of those fast-paced, twist-every-two-pages books, but I was totally pulled in. It made me look at The Wizard of Oz in a completely new way. It's not just about Dorothy or flying monkeys. It's about the people who imagined a world like that in the first place, even when everything around them said not to.

If you’re into historical fiction with strong, thoughtful characters and a quiet kind of magic, Before Dorothy is definitely worth reading. It’s heartfelt, beautifully written, and honestly kind of inspiring.

I never gave a lot of thought to Auntie Em and Uncle Henry in all the years I watched and loved The Wizard of Oz. In Before Dorothy, we learn all about her backstory - where she was born, how she met Uncle Henry, how they ended up in Kansas, and how Dorothy came to live with them.

While it was fun to see Gaynor’s exploration into those parts of the story, there is also so much here about the hardships of farm and prairie life, the Dust Bowl, the stock market crash, and subsequently, the Great Depression of the 1930s. I loved Auntie Em’s strength and resilience through all the hardships - mentally and physically. We also see her vulnerability as she struggles with her feelings towards motherhood. Her character is fully fleshed out and it added such an interesting and creative new lens to the beloved franchise so many of us know and love.

While I do feel like the middle part dragged a little bit, the Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the story were fun that there was no way I was gonna skim or skip any of it!

I don’t know if this one is for everyone, but if you enjoy historical fiction and/or The Wizard of Oz…you will have so much fun with this one!

I absolutely loved this book. Though the prairies of Kansas are not a setting that would typically draw me, in this book it felt so special and vivid. The references to the Wizard of Oz are perfectly sprinkled in without being too “on the nose,” and the characters we get to explore more in depth feel so genuine.

I enjoyed reading Auntie Em's origin story. The book starts with Emily picking up Dorothy in Chicago after her parents were tragically killed. She has no idea how to be a mother and has not spent a lot of time with Dorothy to know what kind of child she is. We flashback to Emily and her sister Annie and how their lives turned out. Annie staying in Chicago and Emily falling in love with Henry and moving to Kansas. Kansas in the 1930s was not the place to be. This book is about the Dust Bowl and how hard it was to survive in Kansas at that time. Was it wrong for Emily to bring Dorothy there? I really know nothing about the Dust Bowl so I had to look up images online. It was an awful time and no help came. Tornados of dirt just buried everything in its path. Crazy! I loved all of the nods to The Wizard of Oz of course. The author did such a great job incorporating The Wizard of Oz with this book.

-That was her responsibility now: to restore a sense of wonder to Dorothy's shattered world.

-Like the weeds that grew in her vegetable garden, secrets thrived if ignored, wrapping themselves around everything within reach.

-Sometimes ignorance is kinder than the truth.

-...hated that she had to learn the tough lesson that sometimes what you believe to be true is just an illusion.

-"I always thought marriage had to be perfect, but it seems to me you're still figuring it out. But you do it together, as a team. I miss that-the partnership, the fun. Someone to share the highs and lows with along the way."

I love it when a book takes me by complete surprise. Blowing me over with its powerful writing, as the characters suck me into their lives. I am not a huge fan of retellings, but I will recommend this book to everyone I pass by. It starts off with little clues here and there, the red shoes, the gifted lion, the little tin man their father made, the witch. I was so enthralled with the story that I was taken aback when I did not take note of something from the Wizard of Oz. The sack dress that was printed with designs woman would enjoy, including blue gingham. As the story weaves between the few strands of wheat left standing. This story is about hope, perseverance, the power of love, home, and ultimately family.

The Great Plains was always a dream for the family that left Ireland full of the American Dream. A pamphlet that their mother kept tucked in amongst her things. Their three daughters beginning their lives in Ireland and the family of five only making it as far west as Chicago. Nell the oldest married and moved out west. Annie fell in love with a circus acrobat. When he left for the war, her dreams slowly leaking out of the hourglass she kept by her bed. Finally marrying a man of means. Emily the youngest met a man that kept her on her toes, who felt like home and would follow him anywhere. Their dream becomes reality when they move to Liberal, Kansas. Their home and farm showing signs of success. Until the dreaded black clouds and tornados ripped whatever hope they had from beneath their feet. No rain for years of end. Just the constant winds of dirt. The air sparking with static electricity. When Emily receives news that her beloved sister is gone, and she and Henry are her daughters' guardians. How can she bring a young child here? Where there is a threat of endless black clouds of dirt, nothing growing, and the money is gone. Yet Dorothy brings something only a child can, her imagination.

This book is an emotional ride. It made me think of the Dust Bowl in a unique way. The amount of research oozes from beneath the pages. I will always be reminded of this book when I cut an apple and see the blossom within. There really is no place like home. Thank you to Hazel Gaynor and Berkley Publishing for this phenomenal read!

If you grew up with the Wizard of Oz and loved it - this is a terrific book to continue your visit with the most wonderful characters!

While few can really contend with the original - this book broadens and deepens the most important character in the book - Dorothy, Auntie Em and Henry. I couldn't wait for but dreaded the ending - because I could no longer visit my favorite characters!

Thank you for allowing me to escape to Oz one more time!

“Home is, quite simply, wherever there is love."

If you love The Wizard of Oz you will love Before Dorothy. You are learning the story of Emily and how Dorothy comes to live with her and Henry. Hazel Gaynor brings in some history as well as what we know already about Dorothy and Kansas beautifully.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkeley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hazel Gaynor transforms a character we barely glimpse in "The Wizard of Oz" into a fully realized woman in "Before Dorothy," a poignant historical novel that breathes life into Auntie Em's backstory with remarkable depth and authenticity. The Emily Gale we meet here—first in 1924 Chicago, then in 1930s Kansas—emerges as a woman shaped by sisterhood, loss, and the harsh beauty of prairie existence.

What makes this reimagining so captivating is how Gaynor weaves Emily's complex relationship with her sister Annie through the narrative—their once-inseparable bond slowly fracturing until circumstance delivers Annie's orphaned daughter to Emily's doorstep. Emily's reluctance to mother Dorothy stems not from coldness but from profound grief and self-doubt, creating an emotional complexity that transforms a fairy tale secondary character into someone achingly human.

The Kansas prairie itself becomes a character, rendered in sensory detail so vivid you'll feel the grit of dust storms against your skin and hear the ominous approach of tornadoes. Gaynor masterfully integrates historical elements—the devastation of the Dust Bowl, the economic stranglehold of the Depression—without ever letting them overshadow the intimate human drama at the story's heart.

Emily and Dorothy's gradual connection unfolds with tender restraint, avoiding sentimentality while still delivering emotional impact. The novel's somber tone never dips into despair, instead offering a meditation on resilience and redefinition.

Saskia Maarleveld's audiobook narration brings distinctive voices to each sister, her performance enhancing the emotional resonance of Emily's journey. Her pacing makes even the quietest moments feel urgent and compelling.

"Before Dorothy" ultimately asks us to reconsider what makes a home—is it a place, a person, or perhaps something we carry within ourselves? The answer, like this novel, is both simple and profound.

Special thanks to Penguin Random House Audio and Berkley for providing the free book and audiobook for review, though all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

DNF at 38%. I like the *concept* of this book, exploring Aunt Em’s life prior to Dorothy’s trip to Oz. But in execution, it’s rather boring. The first part is the most interesting, I could feel part two becoming mundane.