Who is Mary Darling? In this smartly subversive Victorian mash-up of the legendary literary novels Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, the intrepid mother of the Darling children is on the case-and always one step ahead of her inept husband and a famous detective.
[STARRED REVIEW] "The wit, wisdom, and whimsy on offer here are sure to win fans."
-Publishers Weekly
[STARRED REVIEW] "Mary's story is a dangerous and delightful adventure that turns the bigotry and misogyny of Victorian England on its head."
-Library Journal
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 not that great), Mary is Sherlock Holmes's prime suspect in her children's disappearance.
To save her family, Mary must escape an attempt to have her locked away as mad, and to travel halfway around the world. Along the way, her allies include a Solomon Islander whose village was destroyed by Western civilization; a Malagasy woman on an island that is run by women; Captain Hook and the crew of the Jolly Roger; and of course, Nana, the faithful dog and nursemaid.
This witty and adventurous new novel from Pat Murphy (The City Not Long After) will delight fans of classic Victorian tales, as well as those who are looking for a radical new take on the British Empire. Pat Murphy is an acclaimed author of science fiction, fantasy, and science books for adults, teens, and children. She has received the Nebula Award for The Falling Woman, the Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial, and Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine Readers Awards for Rachel in Love, the World Fantasy Award for Bones, and the Christopher Award for The Wild Girls. Murphy has worked as a writer at a variety of idiosyncratic institutions, including the Exploratorium science museum and Klutz Press (the Complete Klutz series). She was the Activity Guru for the ed-tech startup Mystery Science and the Marketing Director for the Crucible, a school of fire arts. Murphy currently works full time as a science fiction and fantasy author in Boulder City, Nevada, in the Mojave Desert, where she is frequently visited by rabbits, quail, and the occasional coyote. Library Journal SFF Pick of the Month, February 2025
[STARRED REVIEW] "Nebula Award winner Murphy (The Falling Woman) riffs on both Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes in this delicious romp purported to be written by Jane Darling, granddaughter of the eponymous Mary, as a corrective to J.M. Barrie's 'shameful' misrepresentation of events. When, in 1900, the Darling children vanish from their bedroom, their canine nursemaid, Nana, fetches parents Mary and George from a dinner party. For assistance, George calls in Mary's uncle John Watson and his employer, the Great Detective Holmes, who takes the case-and eyes Mary as the prime suspect. Meanwhile, secretive Mary, who is aware of the existence of Peter Pan and hostile to Holmes's intellectual snobbery, broods on how she can rescue her children. Drawing from her own past misadventures, during which she would often masquerade as a boy because Victorian sensibilities decreed too much "brain work" caused women to go insane, she springs into action. Though her husband proves unhelpful, and Holmes attempts to thwart her every move, Mary finds an ally in Sam, a Solomon Islander and former pirate, and together they make their way to a grim Neverland to face down a spoiled and near-feral Peter Pan. Murphy cleverly reworks favorite Victorian stories into something delightfully new. The wit, wisdom, and whimsy on offer here are sure to win fans." (May)
-Publishers Weekly
[STARRED REVIEW] "Everyone thinks they know the stories of supposed heroes Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, but Mary Darling knows them better than most, because once upon
