Elphie

This novel is a prequel to Gregory Maguire's Wicked (1995), the first book in the Wicked Years series. Set in the land of Oz, it traces the childhood of Elphaba Thropp, the green-skinned girl who will one day become the Wicked Witch of the West.

The story opens with Elphie at three or four years old, sitting on a blanket in the swamps of Quadling Country, the poorest and wettest province of Oz. Her family lives an itinerant life: Her father, Frexspar the Godly (Frex), is a unionist minister preaching a monotheistic faith to the indigenous Quadlings. Her mother, Melena Thropp, is a vain, emotionally detached woman from Munchkinland aristocracy. Her baby sister, Nessarose (Nessa), who was born without arms, hangs in a hammock from a tree. A governess named Nanny (Cattery Spunge), a Quadling cook called Boozy (Bouze'ezi), and two local navigators round out the party.

Backstory reveals how the family ended up in the marshlands. Melena, the only grandchild of the Eminent Thropp, a powerful Munchkinland noble, had eloped with Frex and settled in the rural outback of Wend Hardings. There, both she and Frex became involved with Turtle Heart, a Quadling glassblower who had traveled north to protest the Emerald City's mining of rubies from Quadling Country. When Turtle Heart left them and continued to Colwen Grounds, the Thropp family estate, the Eminent Thropp had him murdered, disguising the killing as a ritual sacrifice to end a drought. Melena, secretly back at Colwen Grounds to give birth, delivered Turtle Heart's daughter, Nessarose, at the very moment he was killed. Guilt over their role in delaying Turtle Heart's journey drove the couple deeper into Quadling Country as missionaries.

On the morning that becomes known as Encounter Day, a Quadling war party attacks the camp to avenge Turtle Heart's death. Frex is absent, trapped in the river by water buffalo. Boozy intervenes with pragmatic argument and a mourning song for Turtle Heart, partly defusing the crisis, but the chieftain demands one of the missionaries' children. Elphie, who has wandered off after pulling Nessa from her hammock, walks back into camp with a monstrous, thorn-backed crocodile trailing behind her. The warriors kill the beast, and the chieftain, unnerved by Elphie's green skin and fearless composure, decides to take neither child. Baby Nessarose is found alive, floating in an overturned bronze shield among the cattails. The family suspects Elphie placed her there, though Frex insists a four-year-old could not have orchestrated such a rescue.

Years pass in the marshlands. Around age seven, Elphie performs what appears to be her first act of magic: She tells Nessa she will hex a black stone into a marsh plum overnight, planning to secretly swap them, but falls asleep before she can. In the morning, a perfect plum sits where the stone was. Elphie is frightened and unsure whether she performed real magic. When Nessa tells their parents, Frex scolds both girls, insisting magic is dangerous deception. Strange thefts then plague the camp. One night, Elphie encounters a talking Monkey named Oporos, who has been stealing objects to attract her attention. In Oz, Animals (capitalized) are sentient beings capable of speech, distinct from ordinary animals. Oporos reveals that Frex has encountered talking Animals before but never told his children.

Shortly after, Melena dies in childbirth delivering a son named Sheltergod (Shell). In the predawn hours, Elphie goes to the riverbank and sees, reflected in the water, the Monkey leading her mother's silhouette along the far shore. She cannot bring herself to call out. She returns to the tent and sings a lullaby to Nessa before either sister can name their grief.

Around age 13, the diminished family arrives in Ovvels, the southernmost city in Oz, a tidy settlement built on elevated ground. They rent rooms from Lei Leila'ani, a widow who hopes to marry Frex. At the city's floating lagoon gardens, Nessa loses her balance and falls into deep water. Elphie, whose skin reacts painfully to water, is unable to jump in. Two Dwarf Bears, talking Animals named Lollo-lollo and Neri-neri, rush over and push Nessa to the surface. This is Elphie's first confirmed waking encounter with Animals, and she is furious to learn her father has known about them all along. Nanny privately confirms that talking Animals exist throughout Oz and encourages Elphie to trust her own observations.

Elphie meets the Bears secretly in a cedar grove, where Neri-neri tells her that Elphie's mere existence has changed how the Bears see themselves. They advise her to seek educated Animals in the wider world. Meanwhile, Elphie begins working for Unger Bi'ix, a fabric merchant, in exchange for his researching Turtle Heart's surviving kin. Unger teaches her practical skills and becomes a quiet mentor, urging her to pursue higher education. Frex discovers Elphie's singing voice and presses her into service as a lead singer for his revival meetings to attract converts. Elphie also negotiates permission to audit lessons at a girls' lodge school, listening from a stool outside the classroom windows. She advances rapidly, discovering that learning frees her from the burden of being seen only as a green oddity. She forms an informal tutorial with Pari'isi To'or, a well-educated Quadling youth who has a fatal lung condition. To'or teaches her about intellectual stance and critical thinking before his death.

The Dwarf Bears are driven from the area after Lei spreads rumors that they threatened Nessa. The loss deepens Elphie's sense of injustice. Shell's escalating vandalism terrorizes the town: When a porcelain tea set Elphie borrowed from school is smashed overnight, likely by Shell, Elphie is expelled from the lodge. Suspicion falls on the entire family. Before fleeing Ovvels at dawn, Elphie brings Unger the last of her mother's garments. Unger remakes the fabric into a simple dark frock that truly fits Elphie, the first she has ever owned, and again urges her toward Shiz University.

The family resumes its wandering search for Turtle Heart's kin, eventually reuniting with Boozy, who leads them to a clan matriarch named Chaloti'in. When Frex confesses his role in Turtle Heart's death, Chaloti'in strikes him across the face and refuses absolution, declaring that her people do not forgive on behalf of the dead. She dismisses the family but singles out Elphie, instructing Boozy to see the girl safely to wherever she is going next.

The family settles in Qhoyre, the provincial capital, where Frex's confidence collapses. By chance, Elphie encounters Pari'isi Menga'al, To'or's uncle, who tells her that both To'or and Unger had hoped she would pursue higher education. Menga'al arranges for Elphie to sit for entrance exams at Shiz University. Frex does not object, acknowledging that Elphie has outgrown what he can offer.

In a quiet farewell, Elphie places her arm around Nessa's waist and the sisters walk together back and forth before a window. She gives Nessa a black stone as a reminder of the hexed marsh plum, urging her to change her own life when the time comes. Shell hides and refuses to appear.

The narrative voice shifts to conjecture as it imagines Elphie's arrival at Shiz. Frex accompanies her by coach. At the university, she glimpses Animal faculty members in academic regalia and is both terrified and thrilled, seeing a path to the educated Animal world she has longed to find. Another carriage delivers a golden, trilling newcomer who captures everyone's attention. Elphie touches her father's forearm lightly, takes her mother's old valise, and walks through the doors of the welcome hall without looking back. The story continues in Wicked.