Wendy, Darling
A lush, feminist re-imagining on what happened to Wendy after Neverland, for fans of Circe and The Mere Wife.
LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
Find the second star from the right, and fly straight on 'til morning, all the way to Neverland, a children's paradise with no rules, no adults, only endless adventure and enchanted forests - all led by the charismatic boy who will never grow old. But Wendy Darling grew up. She has a husband and a young daughter called Jane, a life in London. But one night, after all these years, Peter Pan returns. Wendy finds him outside her daughter's window, looking to claim a new mother for his Lost Boys. But instead of Wendy, he takes Jane. Now a grown woman, a mother, a patient and a survivor, Wendy must follow Peter back to Neverland to rescue her daughter and finally face the darkness at the heart of the island...
LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
Find the second star from the right, and fly straight on 'til morning, all the way to Neverland, a children's paradise with no rules, no adults, only endless adventure and enchanted forests - all led by the charismatic boy who will never grow old. But Wendy Darling grew up. She has a husband and a young daughter called Jane, a life in London. But one night, after all these years, Peter Pan returns. Wendy finds him outside her daughter's window, looking to claim a new mother for his Lost Boys. But instead of Wendy, he takes Jane. Now a grown woman, a mother, a patient and a survivor, Wendy must follow Peter back to Neverland to rescue her daughter and finally face the darkness at the heart of the island...
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Community Reviews
5 stars for the story itself. 1 star for the overly dramatic writing and the way Wendy's written.
Wendy is written as a weird mix of naive yet attuned to everything, totally accepting of things those in her time period wouldn't have been (dark skin, gay men, injustices towards women) and she's bold enough to fight against these injustices. And yet, she's constantly doubting whether she's coming across as ladylike. There's so much drama in places that feel like there shouldn't be any. I can't count how many times the author wrote "she hated herself for ____" (the way she felt, talked, smoothed down her skirts, whatever.)
Maybe others will love this style of writing - for me, the story was dramatic enough. It's almost like the author didn't trust the story to tell itself. She didn't need the added drama to an already excellent story.
Wendy is written as a weird mix of naive yet attuned to everything, totally accepting of things those in her time period wouldn't have been (dark skin, gay men, injustices towards women) and she's bold enough to fight against these injustices. And yet, she's constantly doubting whether she's coming across as ladylike. There's so much drama in places that feel like there shouldn't be any. I can't count how many times the author wrote "she hated herself for ____" (the way she felt, talked, smoothed down her skirts, whatever.)
Maybe others will love this style of writing - for me, the story was dramatic enough. It's almost like the author didn't trust the story to tell itself. She didn't need the added drama to an already excellent story.
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