Elphie
A Wicked Childhood
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
What happened to young Elphaba before her witchy powers took hold in Wicked? Almost 30 years after the publication of the original novel, for the first time Gregory Maguire reveals the story of prickly young Elphie, the future Wicked Witch of the West—setting the stage for the blockbuster international phenomenon that is Wicked: The Musical.
Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, will grow to have a feisty and somewhat uncompromising character in adult life. But she is always a one-off, from her infancy; Elphie is the riveting coming-of-age story of a very peculiar and relatable young girl.
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Bear witness to the fantastical childhood of one of the most iconic characters of our time in this return to Gregory Maguire’s Oz. Elphaba Thropp wasn’t like most kids, what with her green skin, razor sharp teeth, and ability to turn rocks into plums. But as a possible heiress to the Eminent Thropp, the ruler of Munchkinland, her peculiarities and her siblings’ jealousies quickly turn her into an outcast. Escaping from her family, Elphie discovers day-to-day life in Munchkinland, where the troubling mistreatment of the talking animals and her failed attempts at friendship set her down the path leading her to becoming...well, you know. This delightful prequel gives us brilliant and often hilarious insights into Elphie’s transition from a naïve and awkward heiress to a cunning witch, and the sights, sounds, and colorful characters of Munchkinland reveal how its complicated culture (and some snarky dwarf bears) helped mold Elphie into the character we love. Elphie is a grand, and maybe just a bit wicked, adventure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Maguire explores Elphaba Thropp's origins in this charming prequel to Wicked. Dragged around the marshlands by her traveling minister father, Frexspar, green-skinned Elphie grows up isolated from all children other than her younger siblings. She doesn't know much about her father's work, only that he is propelled by a personal mission to find and apologize to the family of the prophet Turtle Heart, whose death Elphie's parents feel responsible for. By the time Elphie is 13, Frexspar's mission leads them to Ovvels, a small town in the south of Oz, where they stay a while, allowing Elphie to begin to carve a path for herself despite her dermatological difference. Charting Elphie's growth from a young child to a prospective student at Shiz University, Maguire enchants with his whimsical narrative voice and the detailed wonders of the world he's spent so many years playing in. This is a must-read for fans of both the original novel and the Broadway musical.
