Liz Michalski

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Darling Girl by Liz Michalski expands on the universe J.M. Barrie created with his classic 1904 work Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. Ms. Michalski is a former reporter, editor, and a published author.

Holly Darling, granddaughter of Wendy (from Peter Pan’s fame) is now a successful businesswoman and entrepreneur. However, the family’s fame/curse of being associate with Peter Pan is coming back to haunt her and her family.

Eden, Holly’s comatose daughter has mysteriously disappeared, and Jack, her son is about to discover family secrets which she had tried to hide from him all his life. Her mother, Jane, still lives in a world where Peter Pan is the hero she dreams about, refusing to face what she sees and knows to be true.

My daughter bought this book from the Book of the Month club, but it wasn’t up her alley. I’ve enjoyed several retellings and expansions of the Peter Pan story previously, many of them turn the story upside down and figured I’ll read this one as well. Unlike many of the previous books, this one has a different take on how the Darling family coped with their fame, after Barrie published his book. Everyone assumed it was a work of fiction, but it was a verbal history dictated by Wendy.

To be honest, I almost put it down at first also. Wendy’s granddaughter uses some kind of Neverland magic powder to create successful skincare products, as well as taking blood from her comatose daughter to cure her sick son. It’s really well written though, so I kept reading to see where the story takes me. I also enjoyed the little winks to the original story.

I was surprise to learn that the author was an editor. Darling Girl by Liz Michalski dragged at many places, and was often dull, with several loose ends and a somewhat convoluted plot. I also had to re-read several pages because whatever happened simply didn’t make any sense.

Nevertheless, I finished the book and I can see why some people absolutely loved it, while others did not. It’s not for everyone (I guess you can say that about almost any other work), but it is imaginative, taking a different take on a famous story.… (mais)