Before Dorothy imagines the character of Emily Gale as a young woman embarking on a new life on the Kansas prairies. How did you respond to her, and what surprised you the most about the challenges she and Henry face as they establish their new life in Kansas?
I loved it! The Emily in this book is so very different from the Auntie Em we see in The Wizard of Oz. I’ve watched the movie a million times and never thought what her life might have been like - and certainly wouldn’t have put her as a city girl! It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that farming life was hard, but of course in the movie they seem all settled in.
I really enjoyed getting to know the younger Emily.
This was such a delightful surprise of a book. Of course, I had seen the movie and later in life I knew about the difficulties of farming for the early settlers, but I never put everything together. I just assumed Emily Gale was always what we saw…yikes…what was I thinking?
I felt much the same as other readers. I didn’t even consider Emily as a devoted sister and a young wife. Loved seeing her this way and watching her grow!
These were my favorite parts of the book when Emily had the optimism of the future in front of her. It was fun seeing her younger self and her perspective.
I liked reading about Emily’s life before. I loved reading about her earlier life in Chicago. I don’t think Emily ever realized how hard her life would be in Kansas
Like several other readers, I really liked learning about Emily’s life in Before Dorothy. Auntie Em suddenly became someone I could picture as a young woman and much more than just Dorothy’s aunt. I had imagined the homesteading but the Dust Bowl aspect of her life surprised me. I had just finished reading this book when we had an unusual experience of dust storms in the Midwest and I was thinking what Emily, and everyone else there, dealt with on an ongoing and much worse basis. I didn’t see any storms myself but was especially interested when my sister in the Chicago area told me about warnings going off, driving home from shopping as a dust storm began, and then watching through her patio window as she could see a dust storm in the distance. I felt it pulling me closer to Emily!
I certainly never thought about “young Emily” before reading this book. I grew up on a Midwestern farm, so I am at least somewhat aware of the demands and stresses of farming life. I was surprised that Emily tackled the Kansas challenges with such determination and hard work - it certainly wasn’t something to which she was accustomed. But as the book continued and the challenges intensified, it was painful to see her so worn down and bordering joyless. I was hoping she would find that optimistic spark back, but I understand why she did not.
In the Wizard, Auntie Em was one dimensional, however, in Before Dorothy her character comes alive. We meet a strong willed, loving woman filled with optimism. She tackled the Kansas challenge, wasn’t afraid of hard work. It was painful to watch suffer the affects of her environment
I thought she was a very brave woman. She put her faith in the man she loved and did everything she could to make their new life a successful one.