Having just read The Little White Bird and Peter Pan, it struck me that there may have been a little more to the characters than at first appears.

The character of Peter Pan was based on James' brother, David, who died aged 13 (so never grew up), leaving the 6 year old James having to try and fill his shoes for his mother. So it made me wonder who Hook was based on. At first i thought Hook represented the parents but having read this book i've totally had a change of mind.

So my thoughts on the matter are thus... I suppose the clue is in Hook's first name, also James. The hand that gets cut off by Peter, a metaphor for the part of James' childhood, and life, that was taken from him the day his brother died. The hand is then fed to the ticking crocodile that follows Hook around wanting to consume the rest of him because it likes the taste - so is this another metaphor concerning the inevitable ticking clock of life, and that James felt the loss of his brother was continuously haunting and wanting to consume more of him and his family?

Then there's Wendy, which having read this book cannot be based upon anyone other than Margaret Ogilvy herself. He mentions in the book how after his brother died, other local women who lost children would come to her to talk. Again, Wendy and the lost boys - the lost boys representing the children of the other women who went to join his brother David in heaven (Neverland).

But all that aside, this book was a heartfelt view into James' home life and very much his relationship with his mother - who he obviously cared about immensely - and is an absolute must read for all fans of J.M. Barrie's writing. The book also covers James' early literary career and what made him want to become a writer. So a very worth while read.

So what's next? After 3 books in a row, i'll be taking a literary break away from Peter Pan, Neverland and J.M. Barrie as i've got a big 'to read' folder on my Kindle that's continuously nagging to get read. But i'll definitely be coming back to these three topics in my reading in the not too distant future. ( )

A vivid portrait of the author's mother,, 26 June 2015

This review is from: Margaret Ogilvy (Kindle Edition)
A beautiful little book - one wants to pigeonhole it as 'biography' (of his mother), but it's much more a work of literature than that.
Barrie looks back on his life in Scotland, with his numerous siblings - though all but two remain nameless - and his parents. His father is barely mentioned, for it is his mother who seems to have been the centre of the author's life.
In early chapters we see the heartbreak she went through on the death of Barrie's elder brother, while away at school:

"I heard a listless voice that had never been listless before say 'Is that you?' I think the tone hurt me, for I made no answer, and then the voice said more anxiously 'Is that you?' again. I thought it was the dead boy she was speaking to, and I said in a little lonely voice, 'No, it's no' him, it's just me.' Then I heard a cry, and my mother turned in bed, and though it was dark I knew that she was holding out her arms."

But Mother is not just a tragic or saintly character, for Barrie brings out in full her humorous character, whether devouring works by his rival, RL Stevenson (covertly - "you must remember that she only read it to persuade herself (and me) of its unworthiness, and that the reason she wanted to read the others was to get further proof.") or in her refusal to stay in bed when ill.

Both beautiful and gently amusing, I found this a book that grew on me. ( )