Book Review: Beware the Real Neverland

 The Adventures of Mary Darling, by Pat Murphy (Tachyon)

Peter Pan: We’ve all read the book, seen the play, or watched the animated film, so we know the drill: In Victorian London, three children are swept away to Neverland by PeterPanSpiritOfYouth, where they have many adventures battling pirates led by the dastardly Captain Hook. They leave behind a frantic, ineffectual mother, a bombastic, equally ineffective father, and a drooling dog nanny. Author Pat Murphy asks, Is that really what happened? What if Mary Darling had once been spirited away to be a “Mother” to the Lost Boys, despite her insistence that she is not a Mother? What if she understands all too well the deception and peril of the place and its capricious leader?

In Murphy’s retelling, after emerging from the first horrific shock of finding her children missing, with only one place they could have gone, Mary Darling determines to rescue them herself. Under the innocuous facade of a Victorian wife lies a powerful woman who has fought her way free of Neverland with considerable piratical skills. Of course, she encounters opposition, first in her husband, George, who is loving but befuddled by her “independent ways.” A more significant barrier comes from her uncle, Doctor John Watson, who enlists his friend, Sherlock Holmes, in determining what ails her. Holmes decides that Mary is the prime suspect in the disappearance of her children.

As Mary embarks on her quest to rescue her children before they either starve to death in Neverland or fall prey to Pan’s careless disregard for human life, her past reveals itself in layers. In past and present, we meet old friends and allies, people whose lives have been forever altered by their contact with Neverland. We also discover the reality behind J. M. Barrie’s imperialistic misrepresentation of indigenous peoples, the role and power of women, and the importance of memory.

The Adventures of Mary Darling is a brilliant re-imagining of a familiar tale, laying bare its folly and portraying the ingenuity, skill, and heroism of Mary and a host of other characters, invented and glossed-over. My favorite was James, a sweet gay boy, one of a series of Pan’s “Toodles,” and who later as Captain Hook proves to be one of Mary’s staunchest and most able supporters. It should come as neither surprise nor spoiler that Mr. Holmes never appreciates his loss in insisting that logic is the only reality.

Highly recommended.

 

Short Book Reviews: A. C. Wise Redeems Captain Hook

 Hooked, by A.C. Wise (Titan)

Once invited, always welcome.
Once invited, never free.

Neverland is not a safe place but not for the reasons given in the books and movies. It’s a poison in the blood, an addiction whose single taste changes a person forever. A long time ago, a malevolent eternal child snatched a young man from his English home and transformed him into an immortal villain: Captain Hook. Never able to win against Peter Pan and always at the mercy of the menacing crocodilian beast, Hook’s world has become one blood-soaked death after another. Then a slowly evolving relationship with his ship’s surgeon awakens memories of the man he used to be, a man capable of goodness, self-sacrifice, and even love. After discovering a door through the sky, Hook and his surgeon return to London, living in the shadows and always fearing the return of the beast and the darkness that lurks just beneath the surface of his mind. On the eve of World War II, a murder throws Hook together with Wendy Darling and her grown daughter, and it’s only a matter of time before Neverland sinks its claws into them again.

The narrative style is intense, dark, and eminently accessible. Moving from one timeline to another, the story unfolds as a spiral, layering connected events, character journeys, and emotional resonances. I especially admired how the author offers understanding without excuses for Hook’s violent deeds. Like other survivors of horrendous abuse, Hook is still responsible for his actions. He is what Peter Pan made of him—the quintessential adversary. He is also what he then makes of the ashen dregs of the man he might have been.

I missed Wendy, Darling, A. C. Wise’s previous novel based on Peter Pan, but I never felt the lack. It’s the mark of a skillful writer to create a sequel (or several) that stand so solidly on their own, no previous experience is required. Instead, Hooked captured me so thoroughly, I’m ready to grab anything else I can find by the author.