Wicked
{4.5/5} “I want you to consider your futures. I would like to name you, to baptize you as it were, as a trio of Adepts. In the long run I would like to assign you behind-the-scenes ministerial duties in different parts of the country. I am empowered to do this, remember, by those whose boot straps I am not worthy to lick.”
Elphaba was green when she was born, to the surprise of her parents and everyone else. Her first word was “horrors.” Years later she rooms with Glinda at university, and even becomes her friend. But Elphaba leaves university before she’s finished, on a secret mission she shares with none of her friends.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire was published in 1995. It’s a retelling of the Wizard of Oz story from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West.
I haven’t read any of the original books, but I’ve seen the movie. This story says that the movie got it wrong — Elphaba is neither wicked nor a witch. It’s the wizard who’s wicked and Elphaba sets herself against him.
There’s a lot going on in Oz that you didn’t see in the movie. The book deals interestingly with politics, religion, friendship, and family.
Wicked has been made into a musical, currently playing on Broadway.
I previously read Maguire’s Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister which I also enjoyed.