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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Only the names are the same..., January 5, 2004
This review is from: Wendy (Hardcover)
I suppose this was meant to be a contribution to the current wave of "dark side of Peter Pan" fanfics, similar to "Lost Girls". It's fairly well written, has good period settings and vocabulary, and moves along nicely. However, Wallace has chosen to make the Darlings a dysfunctional family; she's exaggerated certain of the parents' character traits far beyond what Barrie intended. She also postulates a variety of precedental incidents which are, I suppose, meant to explain Wendy's later readiness to fly away with Peter Pan; a cruel nanny, a criminally irresponsible father, a suggestion of insanity in the family. In other words, it's the old escapism chestnut; a desire to journey into magical worlds can't possibly just be a wish to see new things or to have adventures, it has to be because there is some condition in your everyday life that is hurting you intolerably. A major theme in Barrie's Peter Pan is that children can have perfectly happy home lives and still wish to fly away, just to see what's out there, confident in the belief that they can always come home, that Mother will leave a window open. Wallace completely ignores this concept. It would have been better had the author used original characters. The family itself is realistic enough; some parents do (and did at that time) drink a lot, have affairs, spend money irresponsibly, look the other way when their children are being abused. Child abuse and neglect were as common in that period as they are today, particularly emotional neglect in the upper classes. Children need to read about other children who have been brutalised in various ways; it tells them they're not alone. But this is not Barrie's family. Sure, the 'real' Mr. and Mrs. Darling were a bit childish, but they were never cruel. One of the most common problems with fan fiction is character consistency. Wallace has an interesting story, but she seems to have forgotten that in writing about established characters, it works best if you have them behave at least reasonably close to source. Pick up Barrie's "Peter Pan" after reading this, and try to connect the Darlings as he wrote them with the family Wallace portrays. Wallace tells a fairly good story of abuse, betrayal, courage and emotional survival; she should have done so without misusing one of the most beloved families in cihldren's literature.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
All too morbidly real. .., May 17, 2005
This review is from: Wendy (Hardcover)
Peter Pan has turned into a Cinderella story.
Wendy's world begins to fall apart - or perhaps it has never been that nice, as her nanny is a crocodile and Mother never notices her children are unhappy.
Forced to play with the awful children next door whilst the neighbour conducts and affair with Mr Darling which Wendy & John unhappily witness, London is the world the Darling children would love to escape.
Mr Darling slides into debt and Mrs Darling is absorbed in her own misery - the Princess who never grew up, whilst Mr Darling is himself a big child, unable to face facts and denying his part in the unhappy events which unravel.
All too morbidly real, this isn't a story for children, with it's tales of affairs, bankruptcy and indifferent adults.
I was alarmed to recall it was lodged with the junior books on library shelves, because I would recommend 15+ to read this book.
Nana Darling, the loveable dog is the only unchallenged character.
Mrs Darling is viewed as a selfish Tinkerbell, whilst Peter Pan is the addled Thomas, living in the country and madly painting when Wendy visits.
Mildly disturbing, it's Peter Pan treated as an everyday sad world - the magic is all imagined and although the Darling children are rather nice, one ought not imagine a novel of magic and childlike wonder, less it is the wonder dissipating!
Wendy is forced to play mother to them all, as in her close concentration on the world about her events keep intruding on her reality.
Interestingly, the cover it's been published with for the Australian, and also I suspect the British, audience, is far more evocative for the Peter Pan story than the Alice through the Looking Glass bookcover advertised herein.
Interesting and indeed as it claims on the cover 'A bold and unforgettable novel inspired by the world of Peter Pan'.
It IS bold and unforgetable, and also poignant, messy and scary!
Nicely told
kotori 2005
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not a magical story at all, but a story about a family in crisis, January 21, 2006
This review is from: Wendy (Hardcover)
I began the book expecting Peter Pan to make an appearance in the book somehow, perhaps in the playacting of the Darling children. Halfway through the book I forgot about him completely. By the end of the book, I was creating parallels between the characters in "Wendy" and the characters in "Peter Pan", this book is really a story about a family struggling to love each other and forgive each other's weaknesses.
It's a story that young adults can relate to more than young children (even though it is a very easy read). The relationships are complex and require some amount of experience to understand. The breakdown of the Darling's marriage is something most pre-teens and teens can relate to their own lives. The fighting, blaming, and long silences in the Darling house are only too evocative of a family going through divorce. Mr. Darling lashes out at his children as well as his wife when his world begins to crumble through his own immaturity and selfish decision-making.
The true 'villain' in the novel is Nanny Holburn, who openly despises the children and forces them to undergo cruel punishments 'for their own good'. And yet, the children, while living in fear, do not feel that they can approach their parents about the problem. The rest of the house staff are very kind to the children, but their parents remain distant.
The most obvious parallel in this story is Thomas, Wendy's best friend who lives on her uncle's estate in the country. Thomas is not very clearly explained, but he (though 15) will always be childlike in his heart. Thomas would be Peter Pan, in his permanent childhood, except instead of leading Wendy to another land, she leads him to a more soothing state of mind. However, she does find sanctuary with Thomas, so it is not a bad parallel. I respect the author for not trying to create characters that have a distinct resemblance to the cast of characters from Peter Pan. It leaves you wondering - and makes the story more real.
The story does explain why, when given the opportunity, Wendy and the boys would fly out their nursery window after a boy who promises 'Neverland'. They have little reason to trust the adults in their life, and a poor example of what adult life is like.
The ending is relatively happy, however, and the Darlings seem to be on a path to resolving their domestic problems. Perhaps Wendy would not fly out the window at the end of the story, but would stay to see how things turn out.
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