Young Elphie is shaped and molded by the behaviors of her promiscuous mother, Melena, and her pious father, Frex. She suffers ordinary childhood jealousies when her sister, saintly Nessarose, and brother, junior felon Shell, arrive. She first encounters the mistreatment of the Animal populations of Oz, which live adjacent to but not intertwined with human settlements, haunted by a Monkey and receiving aid from Dwarf Bears. She thrashes through her first bruising attempts at friendship, a possible lifeline from her tricky family life. And she gleans the benefits of an education, haphazard though it must be—until she arrives at the doors of Shiz University, about to meet the radiant creature that is Galinda.
Elphie is destined to be a witch; she bears the markings from childhood—most evidently in her green skin but more obscurely and profoundly in her cunning and perhaps amoral behaviors, as she seeks to make do, to slip by, to sneak out, to endure, and to aspire.
Elphie: A Wicked Childhood by Gregory Maguire will be published March 25, 2025. William Morrow provided an early galley for review.
I read Maguire's earliest books back in 2012, including Wicked which became a huge Broadway hit that has been adapted into two movies. Given all that popularity of the franchise, it is no surprise the author went back to the well for this prequel novel.
It did not take me too long to remember how Maguire's style of writing on these books is an acquired taste. It is very unique and might give some casual readers some pause. I found myself very much falling into that category after the first half dozen chapters, but I wanted to soldier on and give the work the benefit of the doubt.
This one is definitely for the fans (both of Maguire's books and the Wicked franchise in particular).
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