The Adventures of Mary Darling by Pat Murphy
Published: May 2025
Summary from Goodreads:
Who is Mary Darling? In this subversive take on both Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, a daring mother is the populist hero the Victorian era never knew it needed. In a witty and adventurous romp, The Adventures of Mary Darling draws on the histories of women and people indigenous to lands that Britain claimed.
Mary Darling is a pretty wife whose boring husband is befuddled by her independent ways. But one fateful night, Mary becomes the distraught mother whose three children have gone missing from their beds.
After her well-meaning uncle John Watson contacts the greatest detective of his era (but perhaps not that great), Mary is Sherlock Holmes’s prime suspect in her children’s disappearance. To save her family, Mary must escape London—and an attempt to have her locked away as mad—to travel halfway around the world.
Despite the interference of Holmes, Mary gathers allies in her quest: Sam, a Solomon Islander whose village was destroyed by contact with Western civilization; Ruby, a Malagasy woman on an island that everyone thinks is run by pirates (though it’s actually run by women); Captain Hook and the crew of the Jolly Roger; and of course, Nana, the faithful dog and nursemaid.
In a witty and adventurous romp, The Adventures of Mary Darling draws on the histories of women and people indigenous to lands that Britain claimed, telling the stories of those who were ignored or misrepresented along the way.
Confession:
Despite my misgivings that a Peter Pan/ Sherlock Holmes mashup would work I quite enjoyed this story. I did have some minor issues with the writing style and the pacing, but the character of Mary Darling and some of the others certainly made up for it.
There are many characters in this story, Mary and George Darling, Sherlock and Watson, plus all of the lost boys both past and present and a few others scattered around the story. All of them had very rich and detailed back stories that made for an interesting read. My favorite character was Mary Darling though. I really enjoyed both the adult Mary and the child, which we got to know through her flashbacks to her time on Neverland. Mary is a very smart and a very independent young wife and mother. She doesn’t let anyone define who she is though. She is out to defend not just her children, but herself and others as well. I loved her defiance of the social norms for women at that time. The book could have stood on its own very well with just Mary’s story.
The depiction of Sherlock and Watson was well done. I thought the author captured the dynamic between these two very well. Sherlock was an interesting choice to show the other side of fantasy and how logic can explain even fairies and mermaids. Although I did like the duality of the narrative that Sherlock brought to the story, I still don’t think his part in it was that important. As I said before, the story would have been fine without him. But he does bring a certain take on how society and England presented itself during this time period. The British perspective on other cultures during this time was an interesting one, and the author did a good job of presenting it.
All of the other characters were wonderful and I enjoyed their stories. I especially liked the three gentleman who as children were once Lost Boys. How their time on the island effected their lives was interesting. There is one other woman in the story, a Malagasy woman named Ruby, who was very important to the story. I really enjoyed her and would have loved to know more of her backstory. We also only got a glimpse of the Native Americans who also lived on Neverland and how they got there. That was a a really interesting story as well.
The writing style was a bit on the dry side, unfortunately. I think the author was trying to capture the writing style of the time period of the book, but it just didn’t quite work for me. The pacing could have been a bit faster, with maybe a little more action scattered throughout the story. I did really like everyone’s theories on who or what Peter Pan was, but felt that wasn’t explored as much as it should have been. Loved the ending though. Everything was very nicely tied up at the end. I highly recommend that you read the author’s afterward as it explains some of her choices and research that she did for the book. It was quite fascinating.
If you are at all interested in Peter Pan retellings this is one you should give a chance. It is very different as it is told from the adults involved points of view. It does start off a bit slow, and the pacing is not as fast as I would have like, but it was a satisfying and enjoyable read.
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