The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale
A woman learns to follow her own road in this heartwarming contemporary novel inspired by The Wizard of Oz from New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra.
After public heartbreak and humiliation, a graduate student from Kansas runs away to Trinity College Dublin where, with the help of three friends and a “witch,” she discovers the power that was inside her all along.
Dorothy “Dee” Gale is searching for a place to belong. After their globe-trotting mother’s death, Dee and her sister Toni settled with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em in Kansas, where Dee attends graduate school. But when Dee’s relationship with a faculty member, a bestselling novelist, ends in heartbreak and humiliation, she’s caught in a tornado of negative publicity. Unable to face her colleagues—or her former lover—Dee applies to the writing program at Trinity College Dublin.
Dee’s journey to Ireland leads her to new companions: seemingly brainless Sam Clery—who dropped out of college and now runs a newsagent’s shop—is charming and hot, in a dissolute, Irish poet kind of way; allegedly heartless Tim Woodman—who stiffly refused to take back his ex-fiancée—seems stuck in his past; and fiercely loyal Reeti Kaur, who longs for the courage to tell her parents she wants to teach underprivileged girls rather than work in the family business.
In a year of opportunities and changes, love and loss, Dee is mentored by powerful women in the writing program—including her intimidating graduate advisor, who may not be so wicked after all. With her friends, Dee must find the confidence to confront her biggest fears and apply the lessons she’s learned along the way about making a family, finding a home…and recognizing the power that’s been inside her all along.
Dear Reader,
When I was seven years old, I discovered my grandmother’s copy of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. A kindly librarian guided me to and through the rest of the original series (fourteen books! an entire shelf!), starting with the first book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
I was hooked.
Like Dee, I’ve always loved stories about children on a journey into the magical unknown. When I started writing this book, I couldn’t travel outside the United States because . . . pandemic. Stuck at home on my computer, the Emerald Isle became my Emerald City, full of wonder and adventure. When I was finally able to visit Ireland, I retraced Dee’s footsteps, ducking into bookstores, poking into alleys, and wandering the Trinity College campus. I found my way around Dublin by a combination of memory and instinct, surprised by the thrill of discovery and the shock of coming home around every corner.
Whether you travel to Ireland like Dee or only visit from your favorite reading chair, that’s the feeling I want to share with you—that joy, that escape, that sense of fun and adventure. I hope this story makes you fall a little in love with Ireland . . . and maybe even find the power that’s been inside you all along.
More re-imagined classics from Virginia Kantra…
“Full of wisdom, love and longing, Anne of a Different Island is a wonderful homage to the spirit of Anne Shirley herself.”
NATALIE JENNER, USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR of AUSTEN AT SEA
“I don’t know of another author who could do justice to Little Women. In a warm, realistic, and humorous voice, Virginia Kantra knocks it out of the park in this rich retelling of the beloved classic.”
KRISTAN HIGGINS, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
“Kantra continues her delightful 21st-century retelling of Little Women…Kantra’s compulsively readable update will attract a whole new group of readers, as well as satisfy Alcott devotees.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Also from Virginia…
Classic Romance and Romantic Suspense
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©2025 Virginia Kantra