Overall, what did you think of Before Dorothy, and to what audience would you recommend it? (no spoilers, please!)
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I honestly did not enjoy this book. I found it sentimental and unsurprising – basically a bright young woman from Chicago becomes worn down and hardened by life on the Kansas prairies during the Depression. The writing was full of cliches, and too many heavy-handed references to The Wizard of Oz, (she was a “cyclone of emotion” plus far too many “ruby-red” and “emerald-green” descriptors. The “historical research” behind the story seemed very basic, and I learned almost nothing about the Dust Bowl. And I actually resented the reduction of everything magical in The Wizard of Oz to an object in the real world (Dorothy has a toy lion, tin man and scarecrow, there is a miniature hour glass, etc). This flattened the inventiveness and strangeness of L Frank Baum’s novel (where Dorothy’s trip to Oz is not a "dream.) Honestly, if I hadn’t felt obliged by my free advance reader copy, I probably would not have finished this one.
INSTEAD – for a truly imaginative, breathtaking, fantastically researched novel on the Dust Bowl era – PLEASE READ The Antidote by Karen Russell! What a contrast!
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I really enjoyed the book because it was fun to learn about Auntie Em and the life she had to deal with.
I didn’t like her sister. 
I also liked the subtle references to characters from The Wizard of Oz.
The Antidote was amazing!
I attempted to read the Baum books as a child but they never came close to my experience of the movie which I adore to this day (and I’m 62!). I appreciate what the author was attempting but I was disappointed in the lack of character development. I never got a feel for Em while reading the book. Climate change is now a genre in fiction for obvious reasons. I believe this is the third book I’ve read since March that takes place during the dust bowl years and it has sparked my interest in that era. I finished the book and look forward to hearing what others think.
If I were the publisher I’d have this in airports, regular stores like Target on an end cap; not so much an indie bookseller. I think people who know the wizard of iz would want to pick it up. Las Vegas is having a WOZ screening sometime this year; definitely there.
I did enjoy the book! I thought it was heading to the dustbowl jsut by the dates and how farm life was romantizied in the era. Watched Kevin Costner’s The West on the istory Channel. Peeople we feed false information about life as a farmer on the prairie! Railroads needed passengers! the west was developed by European farmers and not by Native Americans who lived off the land . There was no understanding of the prairie and how it was different than Europe. People just came in with little previous experience farming. So that part was not a surprise. Poor Auntie Em! But i did find her history interesting. People keep secrets thinking they are protecting someone, but its often to protect themselves. I liked the references to the WIzard story, with Dorothy’s toys, shoes and even the rainmaker.
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I did enjoy the book. It was well written. Characters well developed. Certainly brought to life the impact of the Dust Bowl. Id recommend it for an older crowd that knows and watched The Wizard of Oz. The few references throught might be lost if not familiar with the story
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I enjoyed this book very much. I have read several of Hazel Gaynor’s books and have enjoyed them all. I thought this book was interesting to get the story of why Dorothy was living with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. I was sad for Dorothy for having lost both her parents at such a young age.
I think anyone who has seen the movie would like this book.
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I really enjoyed it and thought the references to The Wizard of Oz were so smart, although admittedly overused. I have such a connection to The Wizard of Oz so I wasn’t surprised that I liked this!
I did enjoy this book, and I liked looking for the Oz references. This is for the audience that enjoys the Wizard of Oz or those that like historical fiction.
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I really enjoyed the novel. I think you must remember that it was written as a prelude to The Wizard of Oz and the references to the book, movies, and characters should be accepted as such. I loved learning a potential backstory to Dorothy’s start in life, as well as Henry and Emily’s struggles during the Dust Bowl. While much of the book was spent suffering through the Dust Bowl, I didn’t feel it was the focus of the story. It’s a well-imagined book and I found the references to Oz to be quite engaging. You should be a Wizard of Oz fan to really enjoy the nuances of the novel.
At first, I wasn’t sure how much I would like this story of Auntie Em and “Before Dorothy,” wondering if a prelude could really hit the mark for me, as a Wizard of Oz fan. But I ended up loving it! On the cover of the book, Kristin Harmel is quoted as saying it is “enchanting” and that is how I felt, throughout the book. Sharing some heritage of Irish ancestors and roots in Chicago, I connected with Em’s early experiences, especially with Marshall Fields. I found the Dust Bowl background to be very touching, as well as Dorothy’s family background. I thought the ongoing references to the Wizard of Oz were great. And I truly enjoyed the part bringing me back to the original story of the Wizard of Oz. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a Wizard of Oz fan.
I did enjoy Before Dorothy, but I have to agree with @Michelle_H that as Dust Bowl fiction goes, The Antidote shouldn’t be missed.
Overall I enjoyed the book and especially liked trying to identify any hints to the Wizard of Oz. I also was hooked pretty quickly when I first started reading although started to struggle a bit towards the end probably because I felt their struggles and hoped for things to turn around.
I haven’t read any other historical fiction about the Dust Bowl so that was an interesting topic.
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I wanted to like “Before Doothy” but agree with the review by @Michelle_H (who summarized my feelings better than I could have). Too many WOZ references (though I appreciated the author using silver shoes as they were in the book) that soon became gimmicky. As a historian, I became very skeptical of the author’s research by page 36 when Annie & Emily put a Benny Goodman record on the gramophone (he would have been 13, plus wondered if two Marshall Fields employees could afford a gramophone when they could scarcely scrape together rent for a tenement). Also, the tune “Charleston” didn’t come out until the following year. Yes, I’m nit-picky but authors & publishers need to do their research. My mother lived in central Kansas during the Dirty Thirties so I grew up hearing about dust storms (never heard her refer to them as “dusters”) and Gaynor’s descriptions weren’t too far off the mark (but people would have headed for home at the first sign of one coming). I also thought she included far more tornadoes than actually occur & not all of them are as huge as the book indicated. I’ve not read Antidote (yet) but would suggest Tim Egan’s “Worst Hard Times” (nonfiction) and “Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah, as well as “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse (juvenile fiction) for those wanting to read more about the Dust Bowl. I’ve enjoyed other books by Gaynor, plus grew up watching the movie, so I had high hopes for this book; assumed it might be more like “Caroline: Little House Revisited” by Sarah Miller. As Kansas born & bred, I wish authors would actually come to the state to get a true sense of the place rather than assuming we’re like the stereotypes (altho we can be!)
I enjoyed the book. I liked how it grounded the Wizard of Oz in the real world, with toys that echo characters from the books and movie. I did find the journal entries a bit flowery for my taste.
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I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. Without a gifted copy I would probably not have read it. I loved the Wizard of Oz and Whiz 
so it was fun coming across references that made me go aha! I didn’t know much about the Dust Bowl so I found this book informative. However I will take the advice of previous posters and put a few of the other recommended books on my to-read list.
I had mixed feelings about the book. I thought the characters were well written. I had empathy for Emily and the things she went through. Annie got herself into such a mess with an unworthy man. Henry was an honest, caring man. I certainly had sympathy for Dorothy. I was fine with the objects like the hour glass, tin man toy, etc. which were precursors to the Wizard of Oz. I did feel the story was a bit slow. I would probably give it three stars. .
I think this book would be good for those that loved The Wizard of OZ because of the back stories of the characters. I think the author did a good job connecting the book to the OZ book. But, overall, i found the book to be a bit depressing and I wanted more for Emily than she got from life.
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I’m a fan of L. Frank Baum’s original Oz books, so of course I liked this book!
Readers who enjoy character-driven books will enjoy Dorothy’s “coming of age”.
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