Name: Before Dorothy
Rating: 4 (5 reviews)
Author: Hazel Gaynor

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Book Summary

Long before Dorothy visits Oz, her aunt, Emily Gale, sets off on her own grand adventure, leaving gritty Chicago behind for Kansas and a life that will utterly change her, in this transporting novel from New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor.

Chicago, 1924: Emily and her new husband, Henry, yearn to leave the bustle of Chicago for the promise of their own American dream among the harsh beauty of the prairie. But leaving the city means leaving Emily's beloved sister, Annie, who was once closer to her than anyone in the world.

Kansas, 1932: Emily and Henry have established their new home among the warmth of the farming community in Kansas. Aligned to the fickle fortunes of nature, their lives hold a precarious and hopeful purpose, until tragedy strikes and their orphaned niece, Dorothy, lands on their doorstep.

The wide-eyed child isn't the only thing to disrupt Emily's world. Drought and devastating dust storms threaten to destroy everything, and her much-loved home becomes a place of uncertainty and danger. When the past catches up with the present and old secrets are exposed, Emily fears she will lose the most cherished thing of all: Dorothy.

Bursting with courage and heart, Before Dorothy tells the story of the woman who raised a beloved heroine, and ponders the question: what is the true meaning of home?

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

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?
Emily's mother keeps the pamphlet about Kansas with a dream of going there one day, and Emily shares her almost instinctive sense of destiny to move there. Why do you suppose this is? Where do you most long to visit, or move to? Is there a place your north star pulls you toward?
Adelaide Watson arrives as a fairy godmother character in Emily's and Dorothy's lives, renewing their sense of hope and purpose when they feel lost. What were your thoughts on Adelaide and her impact on the...

Please be aware that this discussion may contain spoilers!

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What are your thoughts on the homesteading life we see among women of Kansas? Do you follow any of these traditional ways of living (making or repairing clothes, canning), or are there any aspects of that life you would like to adopt? If not, why?
I love the "idea" of homesteading! Unfortunately, I'm not always the best in actually reflecting that life, but it's what I aspire to. I've done some canning, grown some veggies, practice some herbology and aromatherapy and natural remedies, but I have a respect for those who go all in and live o...
-Heather_J

Nell and Emily ended up living in rural communities while Annie was determined to stay in the city. Why do you suppose the girls developed such different desires as they grew older? Do you consider yourself a country girl or a city girl
I think Emily was of more "substance". She longed for freedom and open spaces, a fulfilling life of productivity. Annie sought restraint and a life of comfort, and the security of the city and being surrounded with "life" and people rushing about. I'm with Emily. Give me freedom and open spaces a...
-Heather_J

Emily’s mother keeps the pamphlet about Kansas with a dream of going there one day, and Emily shares her sense of destiny to move there. Why do you suppose this is? Where do you most long to visit, or move to? Is there a place you're pulled toward?
Will do! Thanks for the suggestion :clinking_glasses:
-Joyce_Montague

What was your response to Emily and Henry’s decision to leave Kansas? In their place, would you have left sooner, later, or not at all? What would you like to see happen to Dorothy, Emily, and Henry next?
Yikes, I like to think I would have stayed as long as Em and Henry did, but I am a realistic person. I would have left much earlier than they did! I was surprised that they left, but happy that they did because I think it gave them the best chance for a safe and happy life for themselves and Doro...
-Dee_Driscole

Adelaide Watson arrives as a fairy godmother in Emily’s and Dorothy’s lives, renewing their sense of hope and purpose. What were your thoughts on Adelaide and her impact on the other characters’ lives? Do you have a similar person in your own life?
Adelaide was a complete surprise for me. I was not expecting a woman with a plane to enter this story! The reference to a godmother is perfect. Adelaide gave joy, comfort and support to all she met. She even supplied the dinner for the first night!
-Dee_Driscole

Annie and Emily’s close relationship deteriorates throughout the book as they are pulled in different directions. How did you respond to the breakdown of their connection? Why do you think Annie still chose Emily as Dorothy’s guardian?
I found Annie to be immature, as if she was big doll. She wanted the security and wealth of a rich man while enjoying the thrill and adventure of her lover. She often made snarky comments to her sister and pushed for things to be her way. I wasn't sure she would ever agree that Em should leave he...
-Dee_Driscole

In writing Before Dorothy, the author enjoyed weaving in a number of “Easter eggs” as references to The Wizard of Oz. Which did you spot?
I think I found most/all. I enjoyed spotting them as they appeared, made me want to read the original Wizard of Oz. I'd also be interested in comparing the book to the movie version.
-Laurie_M

Before Dorothy is set during the Depression and Dust Bowl. Why do you think the author chose that period, and in what ways do you think the economic and ecological events of that time reflect the references to power that we see in The Wizard of Oz?
I agree. I think setting was perfect for the author's purpose!
-Laurie_M

Overall, what did you think of Before Dorothy, and to what audience would you recommend it? (no spoilers, please!)
I loved Before Dorothy . It was creative and fun to read. Author, Hazel Gaynor, does a nice job with researching for her novels. I felt the Depression and Dust Bowl settings fit the story well. I would definitely recommend this novel to fans of The Wizard of Oz and those who enjoy historical fict...
-Laurie_M

In what ways do you feel Emily’s community supported her? What might her life have been like if she hadn’t been welcomed by Liberal’s women? Do you have a community that supports you?
Friends are important to everyone. Emily would have lived a lonelier life without the other women in Liberal. They all had problems and sharing problems with friends makes you better able to deal with the problems.
-Susan_Roberts

What are you reading this week? (7/2/2025)
I just finished Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor, which was a fun read about how Dorothy got to Kansas and her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. Then I read Don't open your eyes by Liv Constantine - twisty...
-Shirley_Fentz

Dorothy tells her Auntie Em that she didn’t think Mr. Stregone was a magic man at all. Em replies, “I think the idea of magic is sometimes more important than the magic itself” (p. 324). What do you think of her response? Do you think she’s right?
I love this quote. I do think we need things to believe in, for many that is a religion. Whenever I take a walk in nature, i feel a sense of peace. That may be magic, spirituality or just the power of nature. But we need to believe. Often, I have experienced what I would consider a kindness or bl...
-Dee_Driscole

What are your favorite lines or quotes from the book? Share them with your reading group and discuss why they especially resonate with you
Home. I now know, isn't a place at all. Mountains or ocean, city or prairie - that's just landscape, the view from the window when you wake. The most desolate place imaginable can feel safer than the prettiest place on earth, as long as those you love are with you. Finally, I found the answer. My...
-Susan_Roberts

Annie asks Emily why she hadn’t told Henry about her miscarriage. Emily responds that she “didn’t want to bring such sadness to our new start.” Annie concurs: “Sometimes ignorance is kinder than the truth.” What did you think of this exchange?
I thought that she should have told him. He cared enough about her that knowing about the miscarriage would have made them even closer.
-Susan_Roberts

Emily eventually publishes her journal entries into a book, parts of which are included between chapters of Before Dorothy. What did you think of their inclusion? What did they add to your understanding of Emily and her life? Do you keep a journal?
I really liked those journals. They provided Emily's inner thoughts. It made me feel even closer to her character. While that is a great way for the author to bring an additional warmth and rounding out Emily's character in reality few people share their most truthful inner thoughts in diaries an...
-Lauri_Z

How did you react to Leonardo Stregone, and in what ways did you see parallels between him and the wizard in the original Wizard of Oz book and movie? What are your thoughts on the rainmakers who traveled across the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl?
I thought he was a carpet bagger and scheming liar. But I wanted him to be able to actually bring rain. And I absolutely saw the connection with the Wizard of Oz. I understand that many people were so desperate during those times of drought, and given the lack of more complex technology that is n...
-Lauri_Z

The roles of women as sisters, friends, daughters, wives, aunts, and mothers is explored throughout the book. What was your emotional response to the relationship between Emily and Dorothy? Which other relationships particularly resonated with you?
I loved watching the blossoming of the relationship between Auntie Em and Dorothy. While I haven't experienced an identical situation it reminds me of the times I let down my walls and opened my heart to some friends. I truly believe that this is how I got my best friend and confidante. I also lo...
-Lauri_Z

What is your own connection or response to the natural world? What more could you do to change how you interact with and respond to nature?
I totally agree that I find peace and can recharge when walking on wooded trails in our beautiful park system in DC. When I close my eyes and imagine my walking there my breath slows. It blows me away when people deny climate change. I see it all around me. I live in the city and one thing that i...
-Lauri_Z

What are you reading this week? (6/19/025)
I'm reading Fulfillment by Lee Cole but having a hard time getting into it. Just finished Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor - loved it. And The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay - interesting mystery.
-Shirley_Fentz

Nature and our connection with the natural world play a central role in the book. Which scenes and events captured the sense of the prairie the most vividly for you?
Dee, thank you so much for your response. I feel more knowledgeable because of your detailed explanation!
-Joyce_Montague

Adelaide tells Emily that fear is a temporary thing. “Face it, and it doesn’t exist anymore. Turn away from it and it’ll haunt you forever.” (p.215). What do you think she means? Do you agree?
I think it's situational and doesn't work in every situation. I used to be afraid of performing in front of people - I'd get terrible stage fright - and although I forced myself to do it, it never got any better. Plus, sometimes it's good to be afraid of things - fear is instinctive and there's a...
-kim.kovacs

Before Dorothy imagines 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 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.
-Terrie_J

What are you reading this week? (5/29/2025)
Digging into Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor. Really enjoying it!
-Carla_D

What are you reading this week? (5/1/2025)
...good books the past few weeks that I would like to share. I am currently reading THE GUEST COTTAGE by Lori Foster - it's very uplifting. Other books: BEFORE DOROTHY by Hazel Gaynor - loved it - it is about Auntie Em before Dorothy arrived and when she arrived - Excellently done - totally enjoyable. THE FAMINE ORPHANS by Patricia...
-Elizabeth

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor Discussion
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Media Reviews

"Detailed descriptions capture each of the senses as this novel explores the cost of going after our dreams and what it means to truly be a family. Rife with allusions to the original source material, this is an engaging backstory with depth that will give book clubs much to discuss." —Booklist

"Gaynor's writing incorporates elegant touches echoing Baum's timeless characters, symbols, and themes. Readers will be touched by Em's story and respect the strong woman who raised such an unforgettable literary heroine." —Library Journal

"In Technicolor prose, Hazel Gaynor gives new meaning to the familiar phrase 'there's no place like home' in this stunning novel that imagines the real lives of Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, Dorothy, and Toto in the dust bowl of the Depression. Readers will love collecting Easter eggs from the 1939 movie scattered throughout this moving story about family secrets and the enduring power of love. Ingeniously done." —Kerri Maher, USA Today bestselling author of All You Have To Do Is Call

"Like Dorothy stepping into Oz, Hazel Gaynor's new novel pulls Auntie Em out of a black and white background and into a full-color world all her own." —Sarah Miller, USA Today bestselling author of Marmee and Caroline: Little House, Revisited

This information about Before Dorothy was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Emily (Emmie Mere)

Loved this take an Auntie Em!
I grew up completely obsessed with The Wizard of Oz but truly never wondered what Auntie Em was like before we knew her, so I love that author Hazel Gaynor thought of it for us!

Before Dorothy explores Emily Kelley before and after she becomes Emily Gale, including how Dorothy comes to live with her and Uncle Henry. With dual timelines of 1924 Chicago and Kansas a decade later, we learn so much about Emily as a young woman, a new wife, and an aunt who becomes caregiver.

I just adored Emily and was fascinated at the thought of her as a youthful, modern, city woman who more than willingly gives it up to become a prairie wife, while staying true to herself. Her assimilation into her new community wasn’t necessarily and easy one, and thought the Kansas characters were great additions. I especially warmed to the character of Adelaide, a female pilot who smashes societal expectations and gives energy to the women in Kansas.

Spread throughout the book are not-so-subtle references to The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy’s lion stuffed animal), as well as those done on the sly (is Adelaide Glinda the Good Witch?) I thought all those pieces were done well.

The theme of roles women play in each other’s lives was present throughout the book. We saw that prominently in Emily’s Kansas community but I wish we had more of Emily and her two sisters, one of whom has already left for a new life when the book begins. I was so intrigued by their relationships and definitely wanted more.

The author did a nice job of weaving in the very difficult life of homesteading, and the very real consequences of the Dust Bowl, a time in U.S. history when severe dust storms all but destroyed middle America. I honestly don’t know great details about this time, but the author’s narrative transported me right there. Through her writing, Gaynor honors the land shows respect for the people who tend to it.

Completely unexpected was the author’s decision to make Emily, her sisters and parents Irish immigrants. It made sense, though, as another theme was the idea around what makes a place home, finding home (there’s no place like home!).

All in all, I really enjoyed Before Dorothy. Definitely recommend!

I received an advance review copy from BookBrowse for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

Jill

There’s no place like home.
BEFORE DOROTHY
by Hazel Gaynor

I loved Hazel Gaynor’s 2023 release, The Last Lifeboat, so I wanted to read this historical fiction read by her. From only seeing Auntie Em in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, as an older woman, it was nice to see her transformed to Emily Gale — a vibrant young woman who journeyed from Chicago to the Kansas prairie. We see her as a newlywed ready to move where Henry wanted to farm — the Great Plains. Emily had a special bond to her sister, Annie, which became strained by distance, secrets, and the paths that each chose. When tragedy strikes and Dorothy lands on Emily and Henry’s doorstep, Emily struggles with her own limitations. The landscape of the prairie lifestyle that Gaynor portrays is with a deep sense of realism. You can taste and feel the dust and grit. I think she captured the stark beauty of the prairie along with the relentless hardships of life in the Great Plains. The bond with Dorothy shifts from distant, to duty, to something more richer with the shared grief, and quite understanding they form. Gaynor’s blending of historical fiction with literary reimagining of this classic (The Wizard of Oz) worked for me. I enjoyed all the “Easter Eggs” throughout as a nod to The Wizard of Oz.

This is a story of identity, family, the resilience of women, bonds between sisters, mothers, and daughters, and the quiet courage it takes to carry on when everything seems lost.

Thank you to BookBrowse for the book to read.

Michelle H

Cliched and Sentimental Writing
I enjoy reading stories re-told from marginalized characters’ points of view (James, Fagin, Longbourne, etc) so I was looking forward to reading a prequel to Oz told from Auntie Em’s point of view. But I was sorely disappointed. There are very few surprises in this sentimental description of life on the Kansas prairie during the Great Depression, unless you’ve never heard of this era of American history before.

Any character “secrets” are revealed long in advance, and everything that happens feels quite predictable -- bright promising young Emily is worn down and hardened by prairie life during the Dust Bowl. The writing is cliched, full of too many adjectives (plus endless ruby-red and emerald-green objects!), and far too many heavy-handed metaphors (“a cyclone of emotion,” etc). Lots of one word sentences: “Dust. Dirt. Life. Death.”

The dialogue often seems pulled from a corny 1940s B-movie. And foreshadowing every detail of the Wizard of Oz by tying it to something in reality (Dorothy has a toy lion, tin man and scarecrow, a little hourglass, there is an aerial circus balloonist turned fraudulent rainmaker, etc) – was actually irritating to me, as it flattened the magic and strangeness of L. Frank Baum’s highly imaginative, inventive world, making it all “explainable.” (In the book the magic of Dorothy’s adventure in Oz is simply true, and not explained away as a ‘just a dream’).

I did like the addition of female aviator (who later “becomes” the good witch), and it was also somewhat interesting to read about what happened after the big tornado. (Note that two-thirds of the story happens AFTER Dorothy enters Emily’s life, though). I felt obliged to read my free advance copy, but otherwise, I honestly don’t think I would have finished this book.

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Author Information

Biography

Hazel Gaynor

Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, Irish Times, and internationally bestselling author known for her deeply moving historical novels which explore the defining events of the 20th century. Her most recent novel, The Last Lifeboat, was a Times historical novel of the month, an Audie award winner, and was short-listed for the Irish Book Awards. Her work is published in twenty-seven territories to date. She lives in Ireland with her family.

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