If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This by Robin Black

To any fan of the short story genre, this is a collection well worth exploring. Black was able to twist and turn variations of love into a classical masterpiece, in this reader’s opinion. She is able to touch on familiar love which becomes eye-opening in what a sighted father has been blind to in his daughter’s growth as a sightless young adult.

Black is able to touch on loss and how to deal with the grief of not having enough time with a loved one.

She is able to explore the idea of a dying woman who can bare more to her neighbor whom she knows only of in terms of a territorial conflict than she can her husband or her son.

She does all with grace and attention to detail which I found mesmerizing.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire…

This is a brilliant exploration of what stands behind the seeming Utopia of Oz. While there are parts that don’t quite live up to the musical, there are parts of the musical that come no where close to the depth of the novel, either (as should rightly be the case).

I adored getting a better feeling of the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, what would have led her to the woman she becomes in the Wizard of Oz. Knowing her family life, her relationship with her sister, her connection with Glinda before they are merely at each other’s throats. I loved the lead in, learning about the politics and the different areas of Oz, each with their own complexities. Perhaps more than that, though, I adored seeing how intentions and perceptions do not match. How I can see the story of Dorthy as portrayed by Baum in glimpses of Maguire’s tale is absolutely fantastic.

As a reader who is interested in interpersonal relationships as well, I was struck by some of the non-traditional diagrams of relationships. There was a significant exploration of a triad relationship between Elphaba’s mother, father, and another man. There was mention of a sex scene bar. There was a prominent relationship between a married man and Elphaba, with a child being born to them.

Maguire has turned the Wonderful Wizard of Oz into the father the Wicked Witch of the West, making both characters that much grander in the eyes of this reader.