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, orwatched the animated film, so we know the drill: In Victorian London, threechildren are swept away to Neverland by PeterPanSpiritOfYouth, where they havemany adventures battling pirates led by the dastardly Captain Hook. They leavebehind 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 LostBoys, despite her insistence that she is not a Mother? What if sheunderstands all too well the deception and peril of the place and its capriciousleader?
In Murphy’s retelling, after emerging from the first horrificshock 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 aVictorian wife lies a powerful woman who has fought her way free of Neverland withconsiderable piratical skills. Of course, she encounters opposition, first in herhusband, George, who is loving but befuddled by her “independent ways.” A moresignificant barrier comes from her uncle, Doctor John Watson, who enlists hisfriend, Sherlock Holmes, in determining what ails her. Holmes decides that Maryis the prime suspect in the disappearance of her children.
As Mary embarks on her quest to rescue her children beforethey either starve to death in Neverland or fall prey to Pan’s carelessdisregard for human life, her past reveals itself in layers. In past andpresent, we meet old friends and allies, people whose lives have been foreveraltered by their contact with Neverland. We also discover the reality behind J.M. Barrie’s imperialistic misrepresentation of indigenous peoples, the role andpower of women, and the importance of memory.
The Adventures of Mary Darling is a brilliant re-imaginingof 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. Myfavorite was James, a sweet gay boy, one of a series of Pan’s “Toodles,” and wholater 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 appreciateshis loss in insisting that logic is the only reality.
Highly recommended.
