Good on Paper: Peter Pan in Scarlet

Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean

 
The Great Ormond Street Hospital was well loved by J.M. Barrie (the creator of Peter Pan) in his life, and well taken care of in his death.  In 1929, Barrie, claiming that Peter Pan was a patient of GOSH, gifted the hospital with the rights to his story, providing them with a wealth of royalties. Currently, the hospital is attempting to raise over one hundred and fifty million pounds to refurbish two-thirds of the hospital, purchase more up-to-date equipment, fund research, and provide nearby accommodation for the parents of patients. In an effort to raise these funds, GOSH once again called on Barrie to help them through by inviting publishers from around the world to nominate authors that they felt were capable of creating the first-ever authorized sequel to Peter Pan. Geraldine McCaughrean was then chosen from a pool of over two hundred nominated applicants, and she doesn’t disappoint.
Peter Pan in Scarlet finds Wendy and the Lost Boys grown and living in postwar London, disturbed by the curiously tangible dreams of Neverland that are starting to leave an unwanted mark on their everyday lives (John’s wife comes uncomfortably close to a gruesome flesh wound after his pirating dreams deposit a pistol beneath his pillow). Worried that something is amiss in Neverland, Wendy rallies the boys and they head once more towards the second star to the right. What they discover then is a dark and lonely Neverland, the eternal summer changed to fall, shores scattered with the sun-bleached skeletons of mermaids, and a brooding Peter, completely alone and more of an orphan than ever. The story that follows is as darkly imaginative and delightfully quirky as the original, without the contrived and unearned sentimentality that clutters up so much of modern children’s literature, causing the story’s magic to be lost in all the “socializing” mire.
A large part of the sad beauty of Barrie’s original story, upheld here by McCaughrean, is that Peter and Neverland represent childhood for what it is and not as the fuzzy, idealized retrospective of an adult. There’s an ugliness and a savagery to childhood; it’s full of unapologetic narcissism, selfishness, the prudish superiority of the ne’er-do-ills, and the tendency of children to mindlessly neglect the things they love. It’s the portrayal of children as they really are, flaws exposed, that makes leaving Neverland in favor of the comfort of mothers and rules and “please” understandable.
Peter Pan in Scarlet also does a great job of picking up Barrie’s theme of children mourning the loss of their own childhood.  Both books replace the typical view of parents mourning the loss of their children’s youth with the adage that children will always be children to their parents, and instead play up the Milton-esque trap that comes with children’s realization of their blessed state. Once there are dreams of adult lives, or a yearning for the comfort of routine and responsibility, children grow up. Only Pan, the most stubborn of all, refuses to give in, making him one of literature’s most heartbreaking and lovable characters.
The conclusion of Peter Pan in Scarlet seems a bit rushed with some events unfolding a little quicker than they should, and the final lines are a bit more saccharine than Barrie’s closing punch (“When Margaret grows up she will have a daughter, who is to be Peter's mother in turn; and thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless”), but overall it’s a great success and sure to be well-loved by Pan fans. Also look for standout illustrations by Tony DiTerlizzi, Peter’s best portraiteur to date.

For more information on the book or to donate to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, visit www.peterpaninscarlet.com or www.GOSH.org
Also check out Wendy R.’s review of Disney's Peter Pan, recently rereleased on DVD. <>

 

Jenny Watkins, Books Correspondent:
Jenny’s column is published the 2nd and 17th of every month. A hodgepodge of miscellany musings from children's book reviews to an evaluation of southern literature's place in the modern world of words, Good on Paper covers (almost) everything in print.

After honing an impressively rabid obsession with the printed word at the same insitution that churned out such greats as Annie Dillard and Lee Smith, Jenny Watkins packed up her worn paperbacks and headed West for the sparkling crime den of Los Angeles.  When she's not pushing her favorite volumes off onto friends or indulging her embarassing love affair with trash T.V., she's searching for the perfect job and the perfect dive bar. You can find all of Jenny's Good on Paper articles at www.gather.com/goodonpaper.
 
Keep up with Jenny’s other postings and Gather activity by joining her Gather network -- just go to sogoesholly.gather.com and select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.
 
You’ll find Jenny and other Book Correspondents, plus celebrity author content and plenty of other bibliophiles at books.gather.com.