Where to Start with Gregory Maguire: A Reading Guide

Gregory Maguire (born 1954) is the American novelist whose Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) — a revisionist retelling of L. Frank Baum’s Oz from the perspective of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch — became the basis for one of the most successful Broadway musicals ever produced and established him as the leading practitioner of revisionist fairy tale fiction for adults. Maguire’s method is to take a villain or minor character from a familiar story and reconstruct the world from their perspective, revealing how easily heroism and villainy are determined by who controls the narrative. He has applied this approach to Oz, Cinderella, Snow White, and other sources; his Wicked Years series remains his essential work.

Where to Start: Wicked (1995)

The essential Maguire — and one of the most influential fantasy novels of its generation. Elphaba Thropp is born green. Her father is an Eminence, a political figure in Oz; her mother is flighty and disappointed. Elphaba grows up strange, politically serious, and increasingly unable to accept the world as it presents itself.

At Shiz University she meets Glinda — beautiful, popular, blonde, and initially contemptuous. They become roommates by accident and, slowly, something like friends. Oz is ruled by a Wizard whose regime is built on the oppression of the Animals (talking animals who are being systematically stripped of their rights and their voices); Elphaba becomes a radical, a terrorist, and finally the Wicked Witch of the West.

Maguire’s argument is that history is written by the victors and that the categories of good and evil are determined by power rather than morality. The novel’s Oz is politically specific — the Animals’ oppression reads as an allegory for racism and totalitarian control — and Elphaba’s radicalism is presented sympathetically while the costs of it are not minimised.

The 2003 Broadway musical compresses and sweetens the novel considerably. The novel is darker, more morally complex, and more politically direct than the stage version; both are worth experiencing.

Son of a Witch (2005)

The second Wicked Years novel — Liir, Elphaba’s son, in a war-torn Oz. Darker and more violent than Wicked; the political allegory becomes more explicit and the world-building deeper.

A Lion Among Men (2008)

The third novel — the Cowardly Lion’s story, spanning decades of Oz’s history. Maguire’s most historically ambitious entry in the series.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (1999)

Maguire’s best non-Oz novel — a revisionist Cinderella set in seventeenth-century Holland. Darker and more psychologically sophisticated than the Oz books; the best standalone introduction to his method.

Why Wicked Is the Ideal First Book

For a reader new to Gregory Maguire, Wicked is the ideal first book because it is his most famous and influential novel and the fullest expression of his distinctive gift, the reimagining of a beloved classic from a fresh and revelatory perspective. Wicked retells the story of the Land of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West, transforming the familiar villain into a complex, sympathetic figure and reimagining the world of Oz as a place of political intrigue, moral complexity, and genuine depth. As an entry point, it offers the fullest expression of Maguire’s gifts, the inventive reimagining of a classic, the moral and political complexity, and the transformation of a familiar story into something rich and revelatory. It welcomes the newcomer with its inventive premise, its complex heroine, and its richly imagined world, drawing the reader into a brilliant reimagining of a beloved classic. It is his best-known novel and the one that best represents his gifts, so that the new reader encounters Maguire at his most characteristic. For the newcomer, then, Wicked is the natural and ideal starting point.

What to Expect as a New Reader

As a new reader, you can expect Wicked to be an inventive, complex, and richly imagined reimagining of a beloved classic from a fresh perspective. You can expect an inventive premise, for the novel retells the story of the Land of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West, transforming the familiar villain into the complex protagonist of her own story. You can expect a complex, sympathetic heroine, for Maguire reimagines the witch as a misunderstood, morally complex figure, exploring how she came to be seen as wicked. You can expect a richly imagined world, for Maguire reimagines Oz as a place of political intrigue, social tension, moral complexity, and genuine depth, far from the simple fairy-tale land. You can expect mature themes, for the novel explores questions of good and evil, prejudice, power, and identity. You should expect a darker, more adult, and more complex reimagining than the familiar story. Expect, in short, an inventive, complex, and richly imagined reimagining of a beloved classic from a fresh perspective, a brilliant introduction to Maguire’s gifts.

Going Deeper After Your First Book

Once Wicked has introduced you to Maguire’s gift for reimagining, the reader who wishes to go deeper can explore its sequels and his wider body of work, which continues his inventive reimagining of beloved classics, fairy tales, and familiar stories from fresh perspectives. The sequels to Wicked continue the story of Oz, while his other novels reimagine other classic tales and fairy stories, transforming familiar narratives into complex, morally rich, and revelatory new works in his characteristic style. Reading these after Wicked deepens your appreciation of Maguire’s distinctive gift, the inventive reimagining of beloved stories, the moral and political complexity, and the transformation of the familiar into something rich and revelatory. His characteristic approach runs through his work, and the reader who has enjoyed Wicked will find the same inventive reimagining across his fiction. Building your reading journey through Maguire’s work is a matter of following his reimaginings from Wicked through its sequels and into his other reimagined tales. The reader who begins with Wicked and continues through his work will find a writer of inventive and revelatory reimaginings of beloved classics.

Reading Gregory Maguire

Begin with Wicked — it is his essential novel and the starting point for the series. If you want to continue in Oz, read the Wicked Years novels in order. Read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister if you want his best non-Oz work.

For the full Gregory Maguire bibliography, reviews, and biography, visit the Gregory Maguire author page on Editors Reads.

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