Ruth Plumly Thompson (1891–1976) was an author of children’s literature, best known for continuing the children's fantasy Land of Oz book series after L. Frank Baum died in 1919.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she began her writing career in 1914 when she sold stories to newspapers and magazines. After she was hired on by publisher Reilly & Lee to continue the Oz series (with the blessing of L. Frank Baum’s widow Maud Baum), she completed a book a year from 1921 to 1939, contributing 19 books to what would become “The Famous Forty” Oz books. To help ease the transition for readers, the publisher claimed that her first book, The Royal Book of Oz was based on an unfinished manuscript Baum had written before his death, when in actuality Thompson wrote it completely herself. Also easing the transition was illustrator John R. Neill, who had been illustrating the Oz series since the second book and also illustrated all of Thompson’s books.
Her tenure as “Royal Historian of Oz” is a somewhat contentious one for Oz fans. While many grew accustomed to her different writing style and learned to love her books, many still prefer Baum’s books, either because they don’t think the series should have been continued or just because of her sometimes controversial additions. As she was continuing another author’s series, comparisons are inevitable. Thompson had her own vision of Oz which sometimes differed from Baum’s, one which was sometimes much more based in European fairy tales. Her protagonists were often royalty, and she would often invent new kingdoms within Oz and focus the stories on her own original characters rather than the established cast created by Baum, hinting that she may have rather been writing her own original fantasy stories at times. Although her books were strictly aimed at children, Thompson included more romantic subplots in her books, while Baum largely avoided romance. When she did use Baum’s characters she had her own interpretations of them, for example Princess Ozma becomes more vindictive than the pacifist Baum portrayed her as, even having her enemies executed. Some stories feature Oz colonizing other countries on the fantasy continent of Nonestica, while Baum’s Oz was much more isolationist. Her overuse of the Wacky Wayside Tribe trope is another point of contention, as she would often use it as a way to pad out her stories and make them longer. Worst of all however is the unfortunate racism that turned up in her stories occasionally (the foremost example being her character Jinnicky the Red Jinn, who commanded dozens of slaves; in one memorable instance in The Silver Princess of Oz the protagonists help him end a slave rebellion).
At the same time though, her work helped keep interest in Oz going, carrying it over until 1939, when a certain adaptation forever cemented it into the minds of future generations, overshadowing the book series. It could be argued the series might have been forgotten if not for her bridging the gap.
Thompson finally retired from writing Oz books in 1939 after some disagreements with the publisher, and John R. Neill took over, writing three until his death in 1942. Thompson later wrote two more Oz books, which are not part of the "Famous Forty": Yankee in Oz (1972) and The Enchanted Island of Oz (1976).
Works by Ruth Plumly Thompson with their own trope pages include:
Tropes associated with Ruth Plumly Thompson’s works include:
- Hurricane of Puns: Baum already used a lot of pun-based humor in his books, but Thompson turned it up a notch, with at least a few puns in every chapter.
- Our Genies Are Different: Jinnicky the Red Jinn hails from the land of Ev, lives with his body encased in a jug, and commands an army of slaves. It has been suggested she did this to subvert the common genie trope by having the genie command slaves instead of being a slave himself, but that doesn’t quite excuse the inherent racism (she makes sure to specify that the slaves are black).
- Really Royalty Reveal: One of her favorite tropes. Most of her original protagonists if they aren’t already established as royals turn out to be royalty by the end of the book. She even does this to a couple of Baum’s characters, namely The Scarecrow and Ojo.
- Wacky Wayside Tribe: But of course. Although one must note Baum used this trope quite frequently himself, but by the end of his run he was getting better at integrating them into the main plot, which Thompson rarely if ever attempted.
