Gregory Maguire: Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Wicked takes The Wizard of Oz and extends it. In the original work, the Wicked Witch of the West is just a side character, a bad guy for Dorothy to beat. But what made the Witch so wicked? Maguire follows the life of the Witch, from childhood to her lonely adulthood.

Wicked is funny, witty and covers some pretty serious topics: origin of good and evil, religion, family, human rights, tyrants. I didn't love Wicked (it's not that good), but I enjoyed reading it and there's definitely some food for thought as well. I'm not a major Wizard of Oz fan - I have a feeling Oz is a tad more popular in USA than it is in Finland - but I found Wicked interesting nevertheless.

Apparently this book has little to do with the musical. Also, Wicked is clearly an adult fantasy, not a children's book like Wizard of Oz. [ Wicked at Amazon.co.uk ] [ Wicked at LibraryThing ]