Wicked: Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Gregory Maguire

Oct 2009 · Wicked Years Book 1 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande

With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination. 

Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens.

But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas. 

Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch. 

Ratings and reviews

MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK EVER! The (so called Wicked witch) Elphaba is a misunderstood green skinned outsider who lives in a wonderfully written world of talking animals and different types of people depending on where in Oz they are from... Elphaba's family is a great example of how unorthodox the average american family is in these times. I can't Express in my own words how much I love this book! 5🌟stars easily!

Proud to say I read the first edition many moons ago, twenty years later I am back for round two, I was blessed enough to see the Broadway show with in the productions 2 year opening span, loved the book, was so so on the musical. The book provides so much needed detail to truly embrace the imagination of the author -- who truly wrote an amazing backstory. Elephba is and always will be an inspiration to me. The childhood chapters of the characters might seem a little dull at first, but when you reach the adult chapters when the characters live out their true personalities thats where this story / book really takes off. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐💚💚💚💚💚

This book is so magic and beautiful. Let you be into the characters. A book that everyone should read. Just is necessary clarify this: •Is not the same like the musical or the original Oz • Isn't always easy to read and sometimes you can find out • Is for more than 17 years old (some sex between characters and adultery)

About the author

Gregory Maguire is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked—the beloved classic that is the basis for the blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name and the major motion picture—Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz. His series Another Day continues the story of Oz with The Brides of Maracoor, The Oracle of Maracoor, and The Witch of Maracoor, and his other novels include A Wild Winter Swan, Hiddensee, After Alice, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Lost, and Mirror Mirror. He lives in New England and France.