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J M Barrie and the Lost Boys: The Real Story Behind Peter Pan by [Andrew Birkin]

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Andrew Birkin

J M Barrie and the Lost Boys: The Real Story Behind Peter Pan Kindle Edition

by Andrew Birkin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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This literary biography is “a story of obsession and the search for pure childhood . . . Moving, charming, a revelation” (Los Angeles Times).

J. M. Barrie, Victorian novelist, playwright, and author of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, led a life almost as interesting as his famous creation. Childless in his marriage, Barrie grew close to the five young boys of the Davies family, ultimately becoming their guardian and surrogate father when they were orphaned.

Andrew Birkin draws extensively on a vast range of material by and about Barrie, including notebooks, memoirs, and hours of recorded interviews with the family and their circle, to describe Barrie’s life, the tragedies that shaped him, and the wonderful world of imagination he created for the boys. Updated with a new preface and including photos and illustrations, this “absolutely gripping” read reveals the dramatic story behind one of the classics of children’s literature (Evening Standard).

“A psychological thriller . . . One of the year’s most complex and absorbing biographies.” —Time

“[A] fascinating story.” —The Washington Post

Print length

815 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Yale University Press
Publication date

July 11, 2003
File size

21381 KB
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Editorial Reviews

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"Mr. Birkin writes that he has tried to create ‘a documentary account,’ not an interpretive biography. He offers such a wealth of firsthand information that the book holds up 25 years after it was first published (it was reissued last year) and becomes a rich complement to the film. Beautifully designed, the book reproduces letters and diary entries from Barrie and his circle, as well as dozens of photographs."—Caryn James, New York Times

"His most acute biographer, Andrew Birkin, whose, J. M. Barrie and the Lost Boys, has been granted a timely reissue. [It] digs up some astounding entries from Barrie’s private notebooks. Some are composed in the third person, as jottings toward a possible novel."—Anthony Lane, New Yorker

"A psychological thriller . . . one of the year’s most complex and absorbing biographies."—Gerald Clarke, Time

"A terrible and fascinating story."—Eve Auchincloss, Washington Post

"The best biography [of Barrie] is Andrew Birkin’s."—Cathy Schultz, Daily Southtown (Chicago)

"A definitive study."—New York Daily News

"For an insightful exploration of Barrie and the boys who inspired him, nothing rivals Andrew Birkin’s J.M. Barrie & the Lost Boys."—Norman Allen, Smithsonian Magazine

"[A] landmark biography."—David S. Skipper, Tallahassee Democrat

"The best [biography of Barrie]."—Matt Berman, Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Andrew Birkin has written many screenplays, including The Name of the Rose with Alain Godard and The Story of Joan of Arc withLuc Besson. He is currently writing the script for Patrick Suskind’s Perfume.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B017DNAIEY
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; New Ed edition (July 11, 2003)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 11, 2003
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 21381 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 815 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #740,872 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #24 in Children's & Young Adult Writing Reference
- #41 in Victorian Literary Criticism (Kindle Store)
- #81 in Children's & Young Adult Literary Criticism

Customer Reviews:
94 ratings

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Schuyler T Wallace

A MORE KINDLY VIEW OF A CURIOUS MAN

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2013

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I have been fascinated by the back story of Peter Pan since I was a young boy. The idea of a sassy little guy leading children to a world of adventure appealed to my inquisitive and naive mind. I wanted to be there. As I became more mature I realized that those adventures had connotations that were both sinister and thought provoking. What is the truth behind J. M. Barrie, author of “Peter Pan,” and his wildly imaginative story?

Barrie has long been under critical scrutiny for his strange lifestyle. To add fuel to the debate, he even cautioned others against digging into his life: “May God blast anyone who writes a biography about me.” Despite the curse, dozens of accounts of his curious interest in young boys and pretty women have been published. Most have attempted to put an unnatural spin on his behavior leading to charges of stalking, voyeurism, and pedophilia. Andrew Birkin, in his extensive biography, J.M. BARRIE AND THE LOST BOYS, presents far-reaching and well documented information about Barrie’s relationship with the five young sons of the Llewelyn Davies family, as well as the mother, Sylvia, and, in less flattering fashion, with the father, Arthur. First published in 1979, Birkin has reissued several editions through the years, the latest being in 2004, bringing to light more details and updating others.

The work is masterfully constructed using material from notebooks, memoirs, correspondence, and interviews and includes a multitude of photographs, some taken by Barrie. Pictures of bare bottomed boys romping on the beach are some of the damning evidence against his behavioral patterns. The result is an exhaustive, almost tedious study of how a stunted and strange little man shoehorned himself into a family of beautiful people, usurping their trust to become a trusted family member with unlimited access to five lovely boys and a mother’s devotion. The youngsters became the characters who, along with their fictitious sister Wendy, followed Peter Pan to Never Never Land, a world of adventure that has fascinated readers for more than century.

Birkin has presented Barrie as a non-threatening acquaintance who truly loved each member of the family, possibly in substitution for his miserable childhood with an obsessive mother who could never overcome the grief of losing her favorite son when Barrie was only six years old. The Llewelyn Davies boys were beautiful and talented and accepted Barrie as a surrogate father, never shying away from his obsessive love or returning it. Some of his letters to the boys could be interpreted as carrying messages of pedophilia and are additional evidence of illicit behavior on the part of Barrie. But Birkin interprets them as one child addressing another in innocence; the photos are seen as normal to families of that era. He maintains Barrie was incapable of sexual intentions, incapable of any type of sexual behavior, and was simply a child who never grew up. None of the children in their adult years aver implicated Barrie in nefarious activity.

A beautifully written op-ed by Alexandra Gill in the April 20, 2004 issue of Toronto’s newspaper “The Globe and Mail” compares Barrie and Michael Jackson, both of whom had a fantasy land where they could be little boys again, enjoying the company of children, and even sleeping with them in innocent pleasure. It is in this context that I tend to think of Barrie as not so much a lecherous misfit as a highly ingenious person with a childish outlook There is a lot of evidence to the contrary and I’m still in the search mode. I love the intrigue of trying to sort it out.

Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES

23 people found this helpful

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Privacy, Please

A fascinating portrait of a troubled, talented man

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2010

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J.M. Barrie was a popular UK novelist and playwright in the late 19th century, but his works are largely forgotten today except for his play and subsequent book about the adventures of Peter Pan, a boy who could fly and never grew up. Peter Pan was based on Barrie's real-life difficulties with transitioning to adulthood. Despite his worldly success, Barrie was reportedly unable to have a passionate adult relationship with anyone, man or woman (including his own long-suffering wife as well as many women with whom he flirted). He was most interested in spending time with children, often acting like a child himself and sometimes taking on a more fatherly role, but according to the children themselves, without anything untoward going on. Having no children of his own (see above inability to be passionate with women), Barrie became inordinately attached to the children of his friends and even to strange children he met on his walks in Kensington Gardens. Eventually he focused on the Llewellyn-Davies family, inserting and intruding himself into the lives of five young upperclass English boys and their charming mother Sylvia. These boys provided the inspiration and models for Peter Pan, with Sylvia as Wendy. When both Sylvia and the boys' father tragically died at young ages, Barrie contrived to essentially adopt the boys he dearly loved, only to lose several of them to WWI or other tragedies.

Barrie was definitely an odd fellow and one can't help but compare him to the more modern example of Michael Jackson, another talented, rich celebrity who seemed to be unable to "grow up" and sought out the company of young boys. For example, the book includes passages from Barrie's book "The Little White Bird," a bestseller in its time but little known today, which describe an older man having a very young boy for a sleepover in his own bed in extremely loving and sentimental terms. If Barrie lived today, surely people would wonder if his interest in children, and particularly in the Llewellyn-Davies boys, was purely platonic, and he might even be the target of lawsuits. Yet, the Llewellyn-Davies boys who survived and provided source material for the book insist that Barrie was simply great, fun company and a true innocent, never making any passes at the boys. To a large extent, the author lets the source material, including Barrie's own notebooks, tell the story, without grafting on too much of his own analysis. My personal conclusion was that Barrie probably did not molest any of the Llewellyn-Davies boys (or other children with whom he spent time), but that as the boys matured he became passionately drawn to at least two of them, at least one of whom, Michael, was openly homosexual. It seemed like Barrie might well have eventually acted on his desires when the boys came of age - if the war and death had not tragically interfered.

This exceedingly well-researched book is enjoyable and easy to read, and will appeal to those who enjoy Victoriana and Edwardiana in general, as well as those seeking to learn more about the creator of "Peter Pan." The author includes many photographs, drawings and reproductions of other source materials such as letters and postcards, helping the reader to better picture the characters.

The main reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that the book ends somewhat abruptly with the death of Michael, which Barrie took very hard because Michael, a talented young poet, was his favorite and best loved of the five boys. The death of Michael drove Barrie into such deep despair that he contemplated suicide. Yet, he did not kill himself and in fact went on to live for a number of years, wrote his last play, involved himself in various political activities, and had dealings with other children including the young Princess Margaret. Unfortunately, Barrie's life after Michael's death and his subsequent grieving is summarized in just a couple of pages. I would have liked to know more about how Barrie got over this devastating loss, and more about his daily life thereafter, especially since all the periods of his life up to that point are covered in some detail. As it is, I feel like the last chapters of the story are "missing" and I'll have to buy someone else's book on Barrie to fill in the blanks.

22 people found this helpful

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Anne Salazar

A brilliant telling of horrific circumstances

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2012

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Wow. I thought Ann Thwaite's biography of A.A. Milne was quite something with regards to Milne's son and the whole Winnie the Pooh thing, but now that seems mild to me compared to the fascinating but truly terrible circumstances of J.M. Barrie and his Peter Pan books! I can't get over the fact that these two men were not only contemporaries but actually attended a couple years of grammar school together.

This book, J.M Barrie and The Lost Boys, is very well written and the story and many dozens of photos led me blithely through all the years of this sad man's life, his many plays and books, and the five boys he confiscated to the last years, never guessing what was to happen -- incident after incident, 7 or more times over! -- since somehow I have avoided this gruesome story in all the years of my reading (about 50 years). I think I am most impressed with Peter Davies' writings for the aptly titled and unpublished "Morgue", probably the most fair, true and unrestrained pieces of writing in any book, anywhere. It is gut-wrenching!

All these years after the fact, I am so sad for the Davies family as well as for the very troubled little man who devoured them. What a reading experience this was!

9 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

oto_jo

A rare chance to live with interesting people for a while. Wonderful!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2015

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pure delight! I came to this via the serial. It is a wonderful read. Firkin really only weaves text to hold all the letters and stories of the main caracters together. The serial was pure genius and this is a wonderful supplement and addition. When I read that this was really a collection of snippets from letters I was very dubious but somehow while it is all this the text that Firkin writes pulls everything together into a coherent story while leaving the voices of the protagonists to speak for themselves. Reading it, is a little like living with a this mix of interesting people for a little while. It is an experience not just a read. What a privilege!

One person found this helpful

BookwormAnnie

A marvellous insight into J.M. Barrie

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2012

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Andrew Birkin, who wrote this book after he had produced the television mini series of the same name, has written a sensitive portrayal of the relationship between J. M. Barrie and the Llewellyn Davis boys. Many have speculated on the nature of this relationship but Birkin's clear review of letters between the Davies family, Barrie himself, and numerous other people, put things into a clear perspective. Barrie, a lonely man who seemed unable to move on after the death of his older brother at the age of 14 needed to see childhood from an untarnished viewpoint and he found this in the four sons of Sylvia and Arthur Llewellyn Davies. After the deaths of their parents, Barrie adopted the boys and saw them all through their education. He lovingly followed their careers and, sometimes, deaths which to which he reacted just as a caring parent would have done. It's a marvellous book and I cannot praise Birkin enough for it.

8 people found this helpful

Becky Sharp

Wonderful, fascinating book about the real Peter Pan.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2016

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This book by Andrew Birkin is a sensitively written story of J. M. Barrie's relationship with the four sons of Sylvia and Arthur Llewellyn Davies who, after the death of their parents, he adopted and raised.
Some modern commentators have suggested that Barrie's relationship with the boys was exploitative or sexual in nature but the evidence presented in this book shows a lonely man, still affected by the death of his older brother in childhood, who had an almost magical vision of childhood which he was able to share with the boys
I read this wonderful book for the first time many years ago- Peter Pan is my favourite book- and it has stayed with me. It is a fascinating and very moving read.

.

2 people found this helpful

Lissie600

Did he ultimately do more harm than good to the five he loved so much

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2017

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What a totally mesmerising bio. The movie Finding Neverland is OK, as a slightly contrived piece of Barrie-flavoured whimsy, but it's a superficial and inaccurate affair compared to this insightful, sensitive, immaculately researched account of JM's relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family. Did he ultimately do more harm than good to 'the five' he loved so much? Andrew Birkin neither judges nor eulogises; just shines a light on the characters, while making us fall almost as much in love with the boys as Barrie did himself. Especially Michael, his golden boy, who seemed destined for so much greatness. Just fascinating.

4 people found this helpful

multimediapress

The real Peter Pan

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2018

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If you like Peter Pan and the world of J.M. Barrie, you dont' miss this book !

One person found this helpful

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