Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I absolutely loved this book. I also have the audio version as well. Both were great.
Well written re telling of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. Parts of it reminded me of the movie Return to Oz. This was well researched and phenomenally written. I loved the psychiatric aspect thrown in and the insight into the time period and how people were treated when they didn’t conform with the rest of society. Also great insight on the judgments a small town can place on one person.

“Then, through the swirling chaos, Emily thought she saw Dorothy inside the farmhouse, darting recklessly from window to window. ”
Here are reasons to read the Historical Fiction Mystery book:

Retelling - in this retelling of The Wizard of Oz, we follow Dorothy
Tornado - through the aftermath of what takes place after the tornado hits and Dorothy is missing and returns to tell her story,
Dead Woman - She claims she accidentally killed a witch, so when a dead woman is found days later, Dorothy is the one they accuse
Small town - after all this is a small town and who can believe a fantastical tale about another world?

If you are a fan of The Wizard of Oz, Return to Oz, any of the books, or have seen the old tv movie The Dreamer of Oz, this book is for you. It is a compelling mystery, and the ending is so well conceived. I was surprised to learn that this book has been in the writing for a while and the author lost his battle with cancer before it was published. But it is so nostalgic that I couldn’t help but finish it in a day.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an ARC of this before publication! I am always excited to see Wizard of Oz stores, and this was a fun kind of alternate history. In this story, Dorothy disappears for days while her family worries. She returns with an odd story and ends up being accused of murder.
Dorothy's Kansas community is highly religious and the person trying to help clear her name is a more modern young woman. The contrast is interesting and the voices are distinct. Things are never what they seem, and the area has more secrets than expected.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love the original Wizard of Oz so I was really excited for this book! However, it really wasn't at all what I expected.

The story starts with Dorothy missing for four days after the tornado passes through town. In the original she was found in her house when the tornado finished so I was already a bit leery at this point. When she is found, we learn that she tells everyone about her adventures in Oz and admits to "melting" a witch. At this point, everyone who encounters Dorothy from the doctor who helps her, her family, and of course the pastor, are ridiculously over the top nuts about how her story goes against everything the Bible preaches. The fact that she talks about witches, including a good witch, wizards, talking animals, etc. makes her an outrage for being diabolical and evil.

Then, when the town "witch" is found melted, Dorothy is of course made out to be a murderer. But, the crux of the story is told from alternating points of view between the doctor who tries to vindicate Dorothy who is now in an insane asylum and an unnamed townsperson. The author did a great job of making me outraged at the townspeople and their religious sanctimonious attitudes as well as the misogyny that was so apparent towards all the women, but especially the doctor. It was set in 1897 so I know that this would be historically accurate. But, I thought this would be a fun Wizard of Oz type book and it was anything but that. However, there were some really great twists that I appreciated.

This was a good story, but I personally didn't like all the religious elements, sermons, etc. that were in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Gordon McAlpine for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of After Oz.
I am a big fan of The Wizard of Oz and this book continued my obsession with this story and its characters. This is a dark, disturbing and thought provoking account of what happened when Dorothy returned from Oz and how the town and characters are connected before and after the horrific storm. I found this story fascinating as all the unanswered questions fit together like a puzzle. Memories of the wicked witch and the flying monkeys
still frightens me today and this book is just as chilling.
I loved the background of Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. If you think about it, all the characters have undesirable flaws and a bit of darkness along with a few secrets There are some twists and turns which surprised me and kept me on the edge of my seat. I wanted more from Dorothy and her thoughts about her early life. There could have been fewer bible verses quoted, it was very clear this is a part of the country that contains fire and brimstone. Overall, I had a good time reading and thinking about this book.

Going into this book, I thought OK another Wizard of Oz type thing going on, but it literally had me on the edge of my seat sweating and needing more so good

Not my usual type of novel but I'm glad I requested this one! After Oz sets itself up as a post-Oz sequel to The Wizard of Oz and throws in a compelling murder mystery. Every once in awhile it's fun to read some printed fanfiction and this one pleased me with its freewheeling construction consisting of three principal narrative styles: the letters of the psychologist Dr. Wilford who's trying to find out who really did it, Wilford's interviews with Dorothy at the asylum, and - probably my favorite, because it's so weird - the random resident who speaks creepily in "we" sentences representing all of the townspeople. Alternating POVs like this often suffer from Everybody Sounds the Same Disease, but not in this case. Each perspective was done beautifully.

I do have complaints (because I always have those!!) and under normal circumstances this would have been a standard three star for me, especially given that the main question I had was never answered. But this was a fairly quick read that didn't overstay its welcome, and I found the structure and the story itself so refreshing that I gotta round up 3.5 to 4 stars.

My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley the ARC.

What happened after Dorothy returned to Kansas from Oz? Gordon McAlpine weaves together a murder mystery and searing look at a small town filled with religion, sexism and ignorance. This isn’t a sequel to The Wizard of Oz by any means. Dorothy, Uncle Henry and Auntie Em (and Toto too!) are there, but only as secondary players to the town as a whole and Dr. Wilford who comes to investigate a murder after THE tornado. Overall, I did enjoy this book. I liked that the townspeople had their own POV as a whole. Dr. Wilford was certainly interesting and intriguing. What little I saw of Dorothy, I found very compelling. I do think that this book needed a bit more showing instead of just telling, especially towards the end. I also think it needed more pages to really flesh out the ending because as exciting as it was, it did feel a bit rushed. However, I still found myself very captivated by the story told here. If you’re looking for another full on take of The Wizard of Oz, this book isn’t it. What you will find though is a story of prejudice, secrets in a small town and a little bit of feminine rage.
Mini spoiler: Nothing bad happens to Toto!

CW: violence, murder, forced institutionalization, medical trauma, mentions of suicide, alcoholism, verbal abuse

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

The end of the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, is a happy one. Dorothy has returned home after a tornado whisked her away from her Kansas home. She is reunited with her aunt and uncle. The Wicked Witch is dead and gone. Gordon McAlpine recasts that happy moment in After Oz into a psychological puzzle and a chilling murder mystery. Dorothy Gale herself is relegated to the background while a psychologist, Dr. Evelyn Wilford, and her hometown itself wonder what to make of the young girl.

After Oz begins with the tornado itself. Aunt Emily searches for a missing Dorothy before she is forced to take shelter. Dorothy is still missing when the storm passes and the town of Sunbonnet, Kansas, mobilizes to search for her. Four days later, Dorothy is found with Toto, sleeping in a pumpkin patch. The reunion, in McAlpine’s telling, is not a happy one. When asked where she has been for so long, Dorothy tells a story of a strange land, a scarecrow, and all the other things we know from the original book and movie. And then Dorothy tells her uncle, aunt, and the local doctor that she killed a witch, though she didn’t mean to. The adults might’ve been able to dismiss this confession with the rest of her story if it weren’t for the fact that a body, disfigured by lye, is discovered in town.

As fast as the tornado that whisked Dorothy away to Oz (if you believe her story), Dorothy is declared guilty of murder and sent to an asylum in Topeka. Mental health care being what it was in 1896, when people like William James, Sigmund Freud, and Jean-Martin Charcot were creating the field of psychology from whole cloth, Dorothy is in real danger of being driven insane. Dr. Wilford, a protégé of William James, wrangles a handful of interviews with Dorothy.

As Dr. Wilford is charmed by Dorothy, the town of Sunbonnet takes a turn as narrator. “We” are very concerned with appearances, with respectability, with reputation. Dorothy, to their way of thinking, is a dangerous and disruptive force in their little town. Sending her away to Topeka was a relief and “We” very much resent having Dr. Wilford showing up and poking her nose into everyone’s business.

Though I very much sympathized with Dorothy and Dr. Wilford, I struggled to decide which unreliable narrator I should trust. Sunbonnet is more than happy to sweep things under the rug and repeat all the gossip about Dorothy. The town becomes increasingly sinister as the plot thickens. Dr. Wilford is not entirely reliable either. She recounts her story in very long letters to her mentor, Dr. James. These letters reveal all kinds of details that make it very easy to question—if not doubt outright—Dr. Wilford’s academic and medical objectivity. (Fun detail: the coda of After Oz is a letter from Dr. Wilford to her cousin, L. Frank Baum.)

The unreliable narrators plus the mystery of what happened to the dead woman and why make After Oz a highly engaging read. I was immediately hooked by this moody book. I should warn readers who are hoping for an actual retelling of or a new sequel to The Wizard of Oz à la Gregory Maguire’s Wicked that they will be disappointed. I recommend that readers who are intrigued by the premise of this book just allow the book to take it where it will instead of wondering when flying monkeys will show up.

Several days after her aunt and uncle's farmhouse is scooped up by a tornado then dropped into a splintered pile of wreckage, eleven year old Dorothy Gale is found unharmed in a pumpkin patch with her little dog at her side. She tells a detailed story about the colorful land she visited, the friends she made there, and the witch she accidentally melted. Unfortunately, a local woman has been found with her face burned away, as if melted, by lye.

This is the story of the young female psychologist who visits Dorothy in the asylum and tries to decipher what actually happened. It's not quite what I was expecting -- there are very few references to the original book. Instead, it's a procedural mystery as Dr. Evelyn Grace Wilford tries to find out what actually happened to the spinster and if little Dorothy is as innocent as she claims. The people of Sunbonnet, Kansas are an unpleasant bunch. I don't know if I've ever read so many bible quotes in such a short book, religious or not (and this one is definitely not.) The original book describes a sad, gray world that Dorothy escapes and in this book she's right back in it. As bleak as it all is, the author kept me interested until the very end.

I devoured this book. We often explore the origin stories of Wizard of Oz, but rarely what happens after. After Oz is the story of Dorothy, post twister. It's unique, immersive and captivating the entire time. I've already recommended it to a few people and will continue to do so once the book is published next month. Perfect timing with Wicked press tour beginning soon. 4/5

What happens after Dorothy returns to Kansas? She comes back from Oz saying she didn't mean to kill the witch. How was she to know that water would melt her?! At first the town just thinks she's insane but after a local woman, known as "the witch", is found dead in her home, Dorothy's story becomes the ramblings of a murder.

I'm slightly biased here because I will probably love any story related to The Wizard Oz -- it's one of my childhood favorites. I liked this dark take on Dorothy's life after Oz. It makes total sense that a small God-fearing town would claim she's insane and send her off to an asylum. There's an alternating POV between the collective town perspective and the psychologist that I think worked well to propel the story forward. The structure of this book reminded me a bit of Dracula, probably because of the use of letter writing to tell the tale.
If you're a fan of Oz, you'll want to read After Oz.

After Oz takes place directly after the events of the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy goes missing and is found four days later. The townsfolk are relieved. Dorothy tells everyone what happened to her in Oz. No one believes her. When someone in the town ends up murdered everyone thinks that Dorothy did it. She is sent to the Topeka Insane Asylum. When Dr. Grace Wilford arrived to interview Dorothy she is not convinced that Dorothy murdered anyone. Will she be able to help the misunderstood Dorothy?

I thought this was such an interesting take on the Wizard of Oz. Because we never really get much context to what happened to Dorothy after she arrived home. I really liked the first half of this book. I felt like the second half dragged on a little bit. I also feel like we could have used less religious references. I understand why they were used but it just seemed a bit too much at times. But this was a very interesting book. If you like the Wizard of Oz I would give this a read.

Very interesting take on what became of Dorothy after the tornado. It seemed a bit rushed at the end - but totally understood after the end,.

I am here to say that I really enjoyed this book. I loved its darkness and the fear that twisted throughout this read. I couldn’t set this book down and had to finish it in my sitting OF COURSE. There was murder mystery and much suspense to this book and I enjoyed that as well, but I was very intrigued with our POV’s…a townsman and the doctor in our book. The writing is very well done and the storyline is great as well. I loved what the author did with this reimagining of the original story we all grew up knowing and keeps you captivated with this new twist. I can’t wait to watch what McAlpine comes out with next.

Pub Date: Aug 06, 2024

Thank you @netgalley , @crookedlanebooks and author for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

If you're like me, you loved the Wizard of Oz as a little kid. If you're also like me, you preferred Return to Oz, because it was darker, weirder, and you're still darker and weirder as an adult. This book is what happens after Dorothy returns, and it is amazing. The story gives a good hard look at the Kansas of the time, and how Dorothy would have been seen if she told everyone what happened on her trip to Oz. The writing was amazing, the story and character arcs were great as well. The personalities that were developed for Uncle Henry and Auntie Em were so aptly created, and Toto was there too. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who thinks fondly on Dorothy, but also has a sense of realism and wants to know how normal people would respond to someone like Dorothy returning with tall, fantastical tales like the ones she likely did.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great murder mystery and a stellar look at the relationship between the budding study of psychology and small-town traditional values and religion.
The actual story of Dorothy’s adventures in Oz are barely touched here. This is rather a framework for the book, explaining the world that Dorothy was coming from and how it shaped what she experienced during and after her journey to Oz.
It’s dark and somewhat bleak, but I think it’s a great read for anyone who enjoys gritty frontier fiction and amateur detective stories.

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I've always been a fan of "The Wizard of Oz" by Frank Baum as well as the movie adaptation so I wasn't sure what to expect, however I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. This is a fantastic and unique take on the story. There were my favorite elements of mystery and thriller woven throughout that made the story all the more enjoyable. Some of the writing was technical and advanced, however it is set to be in the 1800s and the speech was true to that time. I honestly felt I was transported to small town rural Kansas and there among the characters.

Overall I would rate this book at 4/5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this novel.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

I love the Wizard of Oz. And this dark spooky tale of when Dorothy returns to her town is absolutely amazing! I do wish Toto was in it more. I flew through this book and didn't want it to end.

As a Wizard of Oz collector and lover, I needed to read this! I loved the spin on what happened to Dorothy after Oz, but think this could’ve been executed so much differently. I thought some of this story was far fetched and I really wish the characters and events of Oz from the original books / movie were mentioned more.