Not So Cozy Tales ...

And a cozy mulled cider

Happy Halloween week! 🎃 I’m diving into some darker tales this week, starting with books exploring the impact of Peter Pan.

Books: Wendy, Darling and Hooked

by A.C. Wise
Published 2021 and 2022

Peter Pan always scared me. Even as a kid, I found Peter frightening, although back then I couldn’t have told you why. You’re probably thinking what? Peter Pan? Songs from Disney’s 1953 animated Peter Pan are probably dancing through your head.

I’m actually referring to the play, published in 1904 by J.M. Barrie, which he turned into a novel, Peter Pan and Wendy, in 1911. If you read either of these works as an adult, you see how everything revolves around Peter, who is quite the narcissist. He steals children from their homes in the night. He lacks empathy. He cuts off Hook’s hand and feeds it to a blood-thirsty crocodile, who then eventually kills Hook.

My 1938 edition of the original play

Peter traps people in Never Land,* a world where you should not grow up. If you do grow up, you are seen as abandoning him, and well, off you go. In Wendy’s case, she got to go home. (Peter later finds a replacement in Wendy’s daughter Jane.) As for the Peter’s Lost Boys,** they suffer a worse fate:

The boys on the island vary, of course, in numbers, according as they get killed and so on; and when they seem to be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out; but at this time there were six of them, counting the twins as two.

Peter Pan thins the herd! If they’re too old, they are killed. You can really read Peter Pan as a boy afraid to grow up because he is obsessed by death. I could go on about the darker side of Peter Pan and what influenced J.M. Barrie. But I’d rather talk about these two books, which explore the darker parts of the story.

Wendy, Darling, 2021 and Hooked, 2022, by A.C. Wise

A.C. Wise has written two books that, for some reason, aren’t marketed as a series, but they are. Wendy, Darling, is the first book, and while it isn’t necessary to read it before Hooked, it is certainly helpful. Both books are modern tales, in that they acknowledge the misogyny of the original tales, including that Wendy as the girl must only be a Mother to the Lost Boys. The books take on racism in regards to the “Indians” on the island, and both books show gentle and loving LGBTQ relationships. These stories are not retellings, so much as filling in the gaps of things we didn’t see, and primarily, the “what happened next.”

Wendy, Darling, was my preferred of the two books, probably because it has a very Gothic vibe. There are three storylines: a younger but adult Wendy who is committed to an asylum, Wendy in the 1930s as a wife and mother, and the story of Jane, Wendy’s young daughter.

After the young Darling children return from Never Land, they must move forward with their lives. John and Michael are able to forget and view it all as a dream. But Wendy, the eldest of the three, was unable to let go. Eventually, as adults, John and Michael see no choice but to commit Wendy to an asylum. This storyline has a lot of heart and heft, and echoes every scary asylum story you’ve ever encountered.

In the book’s present (1930s), Wendy is married and has a young, precocious daughter named Jane, who is also kidnapped by Peter. From that moment on, we start jumping timelines. We are given Jane’s perspective in Never Land, Wendy’s perspective as she goes to save her daughter and confront demons she thought long buried, and flashbacks to Wendy’s time in the asylum and to her time in Never Land (and the damage it did to her).

Hooked takes place much later, when Jane is a student in med school, dreaming of saving the world. Jane’s relationship with her mother, since returning from Never Land, has been strained. Never Land, again, damages those it touches. Hooked also spends some time with Michael, who returned from WWI combat with a severe case of PTSD. The star of Hooked, though, is James Hook, or Captain Hook. Just as with the Lost Boys and the Darling children, James was never supposed to be in Never Land. Through a series of events touched on in Wendy, Darling, and more detailed in Hooked, James and the ship’s surgeon, Samuel, escape Never Land. James and Samuel, in 1940s London, are a sweet couple. But James is also an opium addict. It’s the Never Land damage again - his soul is haunted. A chance encounter with Wendy one day brings the two together, and from there, our adventure is set.

In both books, Peter Pan is not a primary character. He is, instead, a catalyst. His impact, particularly on the lives of Wendy, James, and Jane, is far-reaching, damaging, and dark.

I love the modernization in these books, although they take place in the early 20th century. However, there is a lot going on: LGBTQ and aromantic relationships, drug addiction, PTSD, living with mental and physical disabilities, mental health issues, emotional abuse, feminism, racism, and more. At times, it’s a bit much. I think the two best storylines are Wendy’s time in the asylum, and the tender relationship between James and Samuel.

I tore through Wendy, Darling, pretty quickly. Hooked was a slower read for me, but I think I was simply more invested in what happened to Wendy, as opposed to Jane or James. For all their “wokeness,” these books also dance beautifully around gothic horror and succeed, especially when in the asylum or in Never Land, in giving you the shivers due to the Lost characters and the atmosphere. Never Land is scary.

My review of Wendy, Darling (yes, I’ll be purchasing the hard copy):

And of Hooked:

*Never Land (two words) is the spelling used in my 1938 copy of Peter Pan, the play. Neverland (one word) is used in the A.C. Wise books. Disney uses also uses two words, as in the 2002 movie, Return to Never Land.

**As a child of the 80s, I was fascinated to discover that the vampire movie The Lost Boys is a retelling of Peter Pan. I really need to re-watch it.

Let’s move on to a nice drink. Later this week, we’ll taste some cabernet sauvignon, but right now, let’s get cozy with mulled cider.

Why cider? Because Never Land is creepy. In Arkansas, we’re sliding to slightly chillier weather. The leaves have turned colors overnight, and the rain is forcing them rapidly to the ground. I want to curl up near our fireplace with a less creepy book and enjoy a warm drink. Nothing makes me think of fall like warm cider.

Mulled Cider (Image via Timothy Krause, CC)

2 quarts apple cider
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
2 cinnamon sticks
¼ tsp salt
1 dash ground nutmeg
1 ½ oz rum (per mug) ← optional

1. With cloves and allspice mixed in a large tea ball, cook all ingredients in a crockpot on low for 2-8 hours. Alternatively, you can cook in a pan on the stovetop on low heat 20-30 minutes until simmering.

2. Stir occasionally to dissolve sugar.

3. Pour your favorite golden rum into each mug, but do not cook with the rum. Place a cinnamon stick in each mug.

The NY Times has a similar recipe, but they use bourbon instead of rum. Your choice!

Stay tuned for some horror stories at the end of the week. 🧙🏻‍♀️🧟🧛🏻🎃

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I’d love to hear from you. What books are you reading? What is your favorite wine or cocktail? What are you drinking or reading for Halloween 🎃 ?

Cheers,

Michelle

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