Title: Unpleasantly Surprised! (spoiler)
Review: I was fascinated with the idea of back-story for the Wizard of Oz (which I neglected to read in the Frank Baum original). However, I would rather have read an poorly-written historical political tract set in a drearily depressing Eastern European country, which this experience resembled closely. The tone was almost Kafka-esque in its dark ugliness, with characters that were shallow evil go-alongers or tragic dupes.I did appreciate the circularity in Elphie's fate at the hands of Dorothy. Forgiveness is the elusive Holy Grail forever beyond reach of the second half of this book, and it ends with death: execution-style, by torture, or by, you guessed it, a fatal bucket of water. I wasted way too much time on this novel, and I wish I had it back. Want a copy? Have mine!
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