The Water Babies / Peter Pan

by Charles Kingsley, J.M. Barrie

The story follows Tome in his land-life as a climbing boy for a chimney-sweep and in his after-life as a water-baby, where he gains redemption from selfishness as well as from drudgery. On to his fantasy Kingsley grafts a series of digressions and comic asides, through which he comments on a range of contemporary issues.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Childrens

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Charles Kingsley was an English clergyman, university professor, historian, and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and north-east Hampshire.

He was educated at Helston Grammar School before studying at King's College London, and the University of Cambridge. Charles entered Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1838, and graduated in 1842. He chose to pursue a ministry in the church. From 1844, he was rector of Eversley in Hampshire, and in 1860, he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge.

His writing shows an impulse to reconfigure social realities into dream geographies through Christian idealism.

Reviews

[Rebekah Byson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The strangest Victorian afterlife fever dream I've ever read, with a social commentary of the new science of natural selection thrown in. Would I want to read it aloud to a child? No. But I am glad I read it for myself, generally being a fan of the Victorian era.