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A review by eed8
Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Okay, I'll be honest: as far as Peter Pan retellings go, this was a mixed bag. There were a lot of really amazing ideas in terms of Neverland's hidden darkness (the revelation about how Peter manipulates the memories and behaviors of the Lost Boys was MESSED UP), and Wise did a really nice job of showing the consequences of what happens when Peter gets bored of something rather than simply saying "he lost interest so these creatures died a horrible death by starvation". mYet for all of these intriguing dark ideas that toed the edge of outright horror, I didn't feel overtly connected to the Neverland sequences. Part of me feels like Wise wasn't completely sure what to do with the story between Jane's kidnapping and Wendy's guaranteed reunion with her in Neverland, so the plot was too rambly for my liking during the "present."
I would have definitely liked to have had more insight into Wendy's bond with Jane. There's no question that she loved her daughter more than anyone else and would have torched the earth to get her back safely, but I really couldn't get a read on their actual relationship beyond "you're my child/mother and I love you." I can chalk this up to them being so different (equally delightful, but very different), but it was odd to see Wendy pivot from being so ambivalent about marriage/motherhood as a social construct to agreeing to have a child in the first place.
But - I read in an interview with Wise that she was most interested in the "what comes after" part for the Alices and Wendys of the literary world, and it absolutely shows. Though I felt like Wendy's experience in the asylum was a bit tame compared to what we know about turn-of-the-century mental institutions, her agony over being gaslit by everyone she knew was palpable, particularly when juxtaposed with her brother's PTSD from the trenches, and there was some interesting exploration in the differing ways that Wendy and Michael were treated for their mental health issues. The Darling family dynamic was seriously fascinating, and I especially ADORED how Wise turned Wendy's maiden name on its head to be coddling and childish. I figured from the title that this would be a bit cloying, but it really, really worked.
Now, on to my favorite part of this book: I loved, loved, LOVED the representation here. 100% did not expect to find this sort of representation in a fairy tale retelling. The criticism - subtle and not-so-subtle - of the treatment of Indigenous peoples both in the real world and in Neverland was astonishing. We had two fully developed Indigenous women in this story: Mary White Dog, Wendy's gal pal (more on that in a second), who was taken from her Canadian tribe by her white stepfamily as a child and clearly wrestles with her identity after spending a lifetime away from her people, and Tiger Lily, the Indian Princess from the original story whose quiet rage at being willfully forgotten/left for dead by Peter as the last survivor of the Neverland Indians flies off the page. Wendy's horrified ruminations on the similarities between Mary and Tiger Lily - namely the eradication of their respective cultures, and the meaning of Tiger Lily's existence as a stereotype invented by a spoiled little boy - was shocking in its frank timeliness. Wendy may have been the clever tailor who saved Neverland from the monster at its core, but it's clearly Mary and Tiger Lily who are responsible for this.
Finally, ALL of the kudos to Wise for so lovingly and authentically giving us an aro/ace Wendy, who clearly loves her husband as a friend and partner but EXPLICITLY does not feel romantic or sexual attraction to anyone. The closest she comes to such feelings is in the form of her relationship with Mary - and this is discussed! Explicitly discussed! There's not even a trace of the usual "Wendy-had-a-crush-on-Peter-in-Neverland" scenario. Wendy agrees to become a beard for her husband (who is gay! Cue a really fascinating exploration of the ways that he and Wendy are both forced to repress core parts of their histories/identities to be more palatable for their families and society at large!) and he's totally down with having Mary live under their roof as an unusually close friend of his wife's. This is a poly-queerplatonic household. WENDY DARLING IS QUEER, y'all, and it's BEAUTIFUL.
So yeah. The actual Neverland parts of the book? Below average. Everything else, which is really the heart of this book? Exquisite.
I would have definitely liked to have had more insight into Wendy's bond with Jane. There's no question that she loved her daughter more than anyone else and would have torched the earth to get her back safely, but I really couldn't get a read on their actual relationship beyond "you're my child/mother and I love you." I can chalk this up to them being so different (equally delightful, but very different), but it was odd to see Wendy pivot from being so ambivalent about marriage/motherhood as a social construct to agreeing to have a child in the first place.
But - I read in an interview with Wise that she was most interested in the "what comes after" part for the Alices and Wendys of the literary world, and it absolutely shows. Though I felt like Wendy's experience in the asylum was a bit tame compared to what we know about turn-of-the-century mental institutions, her agony over being gaslit by everyone she knew was palpable, particularly when juxtaposed with her brother's PTSD from the trenches, and there was some interesting exploration in the differing ways that Wendy and Michael were treated for their mental health issues. The Darling family dynamic was seriously fascinating, and I especially ADORED how Wise turned Wendy's maiden name on its head to be coddling and childish. I figured from the title that this would be a bit cloying, but it really, really worked.
Now, on to my favorite part of this book: I loved, loved, LOVED the representation here. 100% did not expect to find this sort of representation in a fairy tale retelling. The criticism - subtle and not-so-subtle - of the treatment of Indigenous peoples both in the real world and in Neverland was astonishing. We had two fully developed Indigenous women in this story: Mary White Dog, Wendy's gal pal (more on that in a second), who was taken from her Canadian tribe by her white stepfamily as a child and clearly wrestles with her identity after spending a lifetime away from her people, and Tiger Lily, the Indian Princess from the original story whose quiet rage at being willfully forgotten/left for dead by Peter as the last survivor of the Neverland Indians flies off the page. Wendy's horrified ruminations on the similarities between Mary and Tiger Lily - namely the eradication of their respective cultures, and the meaning of Tiger Lily's existence as a stereotype invented by a spoiled little boy - was shocking in its frank timeliness. Wendy may have been the clever tailor who saved Neverland from the monster at its core, but it's clearly Mary and Tiger Lily who are responsible for this.
Finally, ALL of the kudos to Wise for so lovingly and authentically giving us an aro/ace Wendy, who clearly loves her husband as a friend and partner but EXPLICITLY does not feel romantic or sexual attraction to anyone. The closest she comes to such feelings is in the form of her relationship with Mary - and this is discussed! Explicitly discussed! There's not even a trace of the usual "Wendy-had-a-crush-on-Peter-in-Neverland" scenario. Wendy agrees to become a beard for her husband (who is gay! Cue a really fascinating exploration of the ways that he and Wendy are both forced to repress core parts of their histories/identities to be more palatable for their families and society at large!) and he's totally down with having Mary live under their roof as an unusually close friend of his wife's. This is a poly-queerplatonic household. WENDY DARLING IS QUEER, y'all, and it's BEAUTIFUL.
So yeah. The actual Neverland parts of the book? Below average. Everything else, which is really the heart of this book? Exquisite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Racism and Mental illness