was

A first novel by Geoff Ryman, author of the amazing 253.

Ryman twists three storylines: an orphaned Dorothy Gael arrives in Kansas to an alcoholic Uncle Henry and a Bible-thumping Aunt Em. Things go downhill from there. A young boy obsessed with the Oz books returns as an adult with AIDS to revisit his dreams. And Frances Gumm is transformed into Judy Garland in a terrifying description of showbiz kids.

I got so depressed reading this that I set it down about halfway through. Life in the Midwest at the turn of the last century... who wouldn't mind being snatched up by a cyclone?

Was (?). [AS. waes, 2d pers. w&aemac;re, 3d pers. waes, pl. w&aemac;ron, with the inf. wesan to be; akin to D. wezen, imp. was, OHG. wesan, imp. was, G. wesen, n., a being, essence, war was, Icel. vera to be, imp. var, Goth. wisan to be, to dwell, to remain, imp. was, Skr. vas to remain, to dwell. &root;148. Cf. Vernacular, Wassail, Were, v.]

The first and third persons singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, preterit (imperfect) tense; as, I was; he was.

© Webster 1913.