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J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys: The Real Story Behind Peter Pan
An enchanting biography of J. M. Barrie, the man who created Peter Pan and his Lost Boys
“For an insightful exploration of Barrie and the boys who inspired him, nothing rivals [this book].”—Norman Allen, Smithsonian Magazine
J. M. Barrie, Victorian novelist, playwright, and author of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up , led a life almost as magical and interesting as as his famous creation. Childless in his marriage, Barrie grew close to the five young boys of the Llewelyn Davies family, ultimately becoming their guardian and devoted surrogate father when they were orphaned. Andrew Birkin draws extensively on a vast range of material by and about Barrie, including notebooks, memoirs, and hours of recorded interviews with the family and their circle, to describe Barrie’s life and the wonderful world he created for the boys.
Originally published in 1979, this enchanting and richly illustrated account is reissued with a new preface to mark the release of Neverland, the film of Barrie’s life, and the upcoming centenary of Peter Pan.
“A psychological thriller . . . one of the year’s most complex and absorbing biographies.”—Gerald Clarke, Time
“A terrible and fascinating story.”—Eve Auchincloss, Washington Post
“For an insightful exploration of Barrie and the boys who inspired him, nothing rivals [this book].”—Norman Allen, Smithsonian Magazine
J. M. Barrie, Victorian novelist, playwright, and author of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up , led a life almost as magical and interesting as as his famous creation. Childless in his marriage, Barrie grew close to the five young boys of the Llewelyn Davies family, ultimately becoming their guardian and devoted surrogate father when they were orphaned. Andrew Birkin draws extensively on a vast range of material by and about Barrie, including notebooks, memoirs, and hours of recorded interviews with the family and their circle, to describe Barrie’s life and the wonderful world he created for the boys.
Originally published in 1979, this enchanting and richly illustrated account is reissued with a new preface to mark the release of Neverland, the film of Barrie’s life, and the upcoming centenary of Peter Pan.
“A psychological thriller . . . one of the year’s most complex and absorbing biographies.”—Gerald Clarke, Time
“A terrible and fascinating story.”—Eve Auchincloss, Washington Post
323 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
January 1, 2015
Hmm...yep, not going to happen, thanks to this book.
This is undoubtedly a powerful story, but I honestly wish that I hadn't read it. It left me deeply unsettled, and a bit shaken. The juxtaposition of the Peter Pan story with that of the tragic boys who inspired it, makes for a strange and haunting book. It's clear that Barrie loved the five Llewelyn Davies boys, was fascinated by their boyish innocence and bravado, mourned deeply the two who died young. But he also basically stalked the family, manipulated himself into a guardianship of the children when their parents died, and obsessed over intense "friendships" with little boys. Reading it felt like playing a sordid game of Clue or Charades, as the author makes no actual accusations, does not ever outright discuss the potential disturbing reality behind Barrie's love for his "lost boys." Instead, the book includes disturbing primary documents and quotes (multiple nude photos of the "beautiful" boys while young, all taken by Barrie, quotes from one of the surviving boys and from their acquaintances accusing Barrie of unnatural and obsessive feelings, of acting more like a lover than a father figure, etc., etc.) with little commentary, all merely offered up to the reader with what struck me as cagey subtlety.
After reading a few other reviews here I was surprised that most did not address the rather horrifying elephant in the room, but instead drew connections between Barrie and Michael Jackson (which I agree are quite valid) and focused on other aspects of the book. I was starting to think I was reading too much into it, but no, Google tells me that questions have often been raised about Barrie's relationships with the Llewelyn Davies children, and other modern biographies have been much more blatantly accusatory.
I suppose I should be more specific, so here are a few examples:
In his use of the term “dark fancies” Peter Llewelyn Davies refers to the intense and passionate relationship Barrie had with George (and also with Michael), a relationship Peter seem to imbue with darker passions. In Barrie’s last letter of the over 2,000 daily ones he had written to George he says the following: ”more and more wishing you were a girl of 21 instead of boy, so that I could say the things to you that are now always in my heart”. (Birkin, 1980, p.241) This quotation is just one example of how Barrie’s letters not only speak of affection for these boys but how they were mingled with a yearning, a romantic intensity, a hint of hunger, of never quite getting enough. (Exploring the shores of the Neverland - Helga Coulter)
In a letter to his other favorite, eight year old Michael, Barrie wrote:
''I wish I could be with you and your candles. You can look on me as one of your candles, the one that burns badly - the greasy one that is bent in the middle. But still, hurray, I am Michael's candle. I wish I could see you putting on the redskin's clothes for the first time... Dear Michael, I am very fond of you, but don't tell anybody.'
Suspiciously, this is one of the few letters that survived from Barrie to Michael. Peter Llewelyn Davies destroyed nearly all of Barrie's vast correspondence with Michael in the melancholic period before he killed himself by diving under a Tube train at Sloane Square station. ( 'They were too much,' was his only comment on the letters between Barrie and [his brother] Michael.)' (CAPTIVATED: J.M. Barrie, the du Mauriers and the Dark Side of Neverland, by Piers Dudgeon)
But back to Birkin's book:
Just as it opened describing the suicide of Peter, it ends describing the suspicious drowning of Michael, prone to depression and emotional stress, who many believed committed suicide as well. By choosing to frame the book in such a way, the author adds to the subtle (and not so subtle) shadows lurking all throughout the story. My heart broke for these boys, and I am afraid that I'll be thinking about this book for quite a while. So yeah, no "happy thoughts" to be found here.
September 13, 2021
This is the book which inspired the movie Finding Neverland, about the family of boys who inspired J.M. Barrie to create Peter Pan. It’s a troubling read, and one that has divided the world into those who believe the author was a paedophile who stalked the Llewelyn Davies family and shadowed their live with grief and tragedy; and those who believe he was an asexual innocent who created a work of genius and has been cruelly misunderstood by modern audiences with a Freudian obsession with libido.
There is evidence for both arguments.
Here are a few interesting points:
J.M. Barrie was only 5’ 3’’. Some believe he suffered from psychogenic dwarfism, brought on by the tragic death of his 14-year-old brother David when he was six. His mother Margaret was stricken with grief, and little Jamie used to dress up in his brother’s clothes to comfort her (or so he wrote). However, there is no real evidence to support either the existence of psychogenic dwarfism, or that it was the cause of Barrie’s short stature (he was born into a poor Scottish family at a time when the average height for men in Britain was 5’5”). However, the psychic shock of his brother’s death does seem to be the source of his obsession with boys and the preservation of their innocence.
In 1894, he married an actress named Mary Ansell. They did not have any children, and it was implied at their divorce in 1909 that the marriage was never consummated. Barrie wrote in his (believed-to-be-autographical) novel Tommy and Grizel (1900): ‘Grizel, I seem to be different from all other men; there seems to be some curse upon me … You are the only woman I ever wanted to love, but apparently I can’t.’
Barrie met five-year-old George, four-year-old Jack and baby Peter Llewellyn Davies in 1898, in Kensington Gardens. He befriended them, entertained them with tricks with his dog, told them stories and waggled his eyebrows. He met their mother Sylvia at a dinner party soon after; it was not long before they were holidaying together at his country retreat. Soon two more boys were born: Michael and Nico. Barrie played wild adventurous games with the five boys and photographed them, often in the nude. He then created two photobooks of their summer adventures, one for him and one for their father Arthur, entitled The Boy Castaways. Arthur accidentally left his copy on the train.
In 1901, Barrie wrote a book for adults called The Little White Bird. It introduced the character of Peter Pan, who flew from his cradle at the age of seven to Kensington Gardens and was taught to fly by the fairies. He is described as ‘betwixt-and-between’ a boy and a bird.
In the book, a boy named David is befriended by the narrator, who pretends to have a son of his own who died. This lie creates an empathetic connection with David’s mother, who pities him. The narrator – a man much like J.M. Barrie – persuades her to allow him to have her son for a sleepover: ‘David and I had a tremendous adventure. It was this – he passed the night with me… I took [his boots] off with all the coolness of an old hand, and then I placed him on my knee, and removed his blouse. This was a delightful experience, but I think I remained wonderfully calm until I came somewhat too suddenly to his little braces, which agitated me profoundly… I cannot proceed in public with the disrobing of David.’
The phenomenal success of The Little White Bird encouraged Barrie to turn the story of Peter Pan into a stage play entitled Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. It premiered in London on 27 December 1904 in London. It too was a huge critical and commercial success. Barrie’s publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, then extracted the relevant chapters of The Little White Bird and published them in 1906 under the title Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, with magical illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
Tragically, Arthur Llewellyn Davies died from cancer of the jaw in 1907. Three years later Sylvia died of lung cancer. Close to her death, Sylvia wrote: ‘What I wd like wd be if Jenny wd come to Mary & that the two together wd be looking after the boys & the house.’ (Mary was the boys’ nanny; Jenny was Mary’s sister.)
Barrie transcribed this note and sent it to Sylvia’s mother, but he changed the name ‘Jenny’ to ‘Jimmy’ – his own name. As a consequence, he became guardian to the five orphaned boys.
Of the Llewellyn Davies boys, George died in the trenches in World War I at the age of 21. Jack died of lung disease aged 65. Peter was bullied mercilessly all through his school days as the original ‘Peter Pan’, which he called ‘that terrible masterpiece.’ He threw himself under a train at the age of 63. Michael – the most sensitive and brilliant of the boys, and Barrie’s most beloved – drowned in suspicious circumstances with his best friend (and possible lover) Rupert Buxton just before his 21st birthday. Nico (who was only one year old when Peter Pan became a stage hit) had a happy life and marriage, and died at the age of almost 77. He wrote to Andrew Birkin, the author of this biography: ‘I don’t believe that Uncle Jim ever experienced what one might call a stirring in the undergrowth for anyone – man, woman, adult or child. He was an innocent…’
I am usually of a decisive nature, with strong opinions. But I cannot determine for myself which of the two portrayals of J.M. Barrie is more likely. Creepy paedophile-stalker, or asexual innocent genius?
Of course, we never can know. Peter Llewellyn Davies burned most of Barrie’s letters to Michael, and we have no evidence but supposition.
But the book has haunted me since reading it.
There is evidence for both arguments.
Here are a few interesting points:
J.M. Barrie was only 5’ 3’’. Some believe he suffered from psychogenic dwarfism, brought on by the tragic death of his 14-year-old brother David when he was six. His mother Margaret was stricken with grief, and little Jamie used to dress up in his brother’s clothes to comfort her (or so he wrote). However, there is no real evidence to support either the existence of psychogenic dwarfism, or that it was the cause of Barrie’s short stature (he was born into a poor Scottish family at a time when the average height for men in Britain was 5’5”). However, the psychic shock of his brother’s death does seem to be the source of his obsession with boys and the preservation of their innocence.
In 1894, he married an actress named Mary Ansell. They did not have any children, and it was implied at their divorce in 1909 that the marriage was never consummated. Barrie wrote in his (believed-to-be-autographical) novel Tommy and Grizel (1900): ‘Grizel, I seem to be different from all other men; there seems to be some curse upon me … You are the only woman I ever wanted to love, but apparently I can’t.’
Barrie met five-year-old George, four-year-old Jack and baby Peter Llewellyn Davies in 1898, in Kensington Gardens. He befriended them, entertained them with tricks with his dog, told them stories and waggled his eyebrows. He met their mother Sylvia at a dinner party soon after; it was not long before they were holidaying together at his country retreat. Soon two more boys were born: Michael and Nico. Barrie played wild adventurous games with the five boys and photographed them, often in the nude. He then created two photobooks of their summer adventures, one for him and one for their father Arthur, entitled The Boy Castaways. Arthur accidentally left his copy on the train.
In 1901, Barrie wrote a book for adults called The Little White Bird. It introduced the character of Peter Pan, who flew from his cradle at the age of seven to Kensington Gardens and was taught to fly by the fairies. He is described as ‘betwixt-and-between’ a boy and a bird.
In the book, a boy named David is befriended by the narrator, who pretends to have a son of his own who died. This lie creates an empathetic connection with David’s mother, who pities him. The narrator – a man much like J.M. Barrie – persuades her to allow him to have her son for a sleepover: ‘David and I had a tremendous adventure. It was this – he passed the night with me… I took [his boots] off with all the coolness of an old hand, and then I placed him on my knee, and removed his blouse. This was a delightful experience, but I think I remained wonderfully calm until I came somewhat too suddenly to his little braces, which agitated me profoundly… I cannot proceed in public with the disrobing of David.’
The phenomenal success of The Little White Bird encouraged Barrie to turn the story of Peter Pan into a stage play entitled Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. It premiered in London on 27 December 1904 in London. It too was a huge critical and commercial success. Barrie’s publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, then extracted the relevant chapters of The Little White Bird and published them in 1906 under the title Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, with magical illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
Tragically, Arthur Llewellyn Davies died from cancer of the jaw in 1907. Three years later Sylvia died of lung cancer. Close to her death, Sylvia wrote: ‘What I wd like wd be if Jenny wd come to Mary & that the two together wd be looking after the boys & the house.’ (Mary was the boys’ nanny; Jenny was Mary’s sister.)
Barrie transcribed this note and sent it to Sylvia’s mother, but he changed the name ‘Jenny’ to ‘Jimmy’ – his own name. As a consequence, he became guardian to the five orphaned boys.
Of the Llewellyn Davies boys, George died in the trenches in World War I at the age of 21. Jack died of lung disease aged 65. Peter was bullied mercilessly all through his school days as the original ‘Peter Pan’, which he called ‘that terrible masterpiece.’ He threw himself under a train at the age of 63. Michael – the most sensitive and brilliant of the boys, and Barrie’s most beloved – drowned in suspicious circumstances with his best friend (and possible lover) Rupert Buxton just before his 21st birthday. Nico (who was only one year old when Peter Pan became a stage hit) had a happy life and marriage, and died at the age of almost 77. He wrote to Andrew Birkin, the author of this biography: ‘I don’t believe that Uncle Jim ever experienced what one might call a stirring in the undergrowth for anyone – man, woman, adult or child. He was an innocent…’
I am usually of a decisive nature, with strong opinions. But I cannot determine for myself which of the two portrayals of J.M. Barrie is more likely. Creepy paedophile-stalker, or asexual innocent genius?
Of course, we never can know. Peter Llewellyn Davies burned most of Barrie’s letters to Michael, and we have no evidence but supposition.
But the book has haunted me since reading it.
March 22, 2023
Hard to decide between two and a half stars, or three. My wife and I saw 'Finding Neverland' back in 2004, a small section of Barrie's life with the Llewelyn Davis children--they helped inspire 'Peter Pan'. I wanted to learn more about Barrie, the movie was intriguing but left many holes in Barrie's life. Author Andrew Birkin is a British playwright and director that produced a docudrama mini-series 'The Lost Boys' for the BBC in 1978. This well-researched book represents the material he used. Plenty of photographs, footnotes, sources, etc.
By the time I finished the book--I felt I knew Barrie and the boy's history, but did I get a sense the real J.M. Barrie? Not really. Interesting times in the early 1900's. A good look at the Llewlyn Davis family parents as well as children. Barrie is still a bit of an enigma. Some speculate he was a pedophile--but the children seemed to enjoy spending time with him. Although several of the photos in the book were taken by Barrie and feature bare buttocks. (couldn't folks afford swim suits?) Plenty of tragedy--death seems to practically be another character throughout the book. I believe the death of an older brother when Barrie was young influenced much of his writing throughout his life. I was surprised to find out that Daphnae Du Maurier was related to the LLewyn Davis family. A quick read--if you want to take a closer look at Barrie this will do.
By the time I finished the book--I felt I knew Barrie and the boy's history, but did I get a sense the real J.M. Barrie? Not really. Interesting times in the early 1900's. A good look at the Llewlyn Davis family parents as well as children. Barrie is still a bit of an enigma. Some speculate he was a pedophile--but the children seemed to enjoy spending time with him. Although several of the photos in the book were taken by Barrie and feature bare buttocks. (couldn't folks afford swim suits?) Plenty of tragedy--death seems to practically be another character throughout the book. I believe the death of an older brother when Barrie was young influenced much of his writing throughout his life. I was surprised to find out that Daphnae Du Maurier was related to the LLewyn Davis family. A quick read--if you want to take a closer look at Barrie this will do.
December 2, 2008
Perhaps the best biography I have ever read so far. Incredibly moving. Breaks your heart. Birkin tells the story of Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, and of the family he fell in love with, and for which he wrote his most famous story. It's about dreams and childhood, about growing up and dying, about what you wish for and what you lose forever, it's incredibly well researched, and written with such compassion by Birkin that you can feel all the complex emotions that Barrie, and the ones he loved, went through. I couldn't put this book down and have re-read it later. I'd take it with me on a desert Island. I loved it that much.
August 22, 2020
4/5stars
August 22, 2018
Well-told book whose sales really took off after it became the basis for the movie FINDING NEVERLAND (2004). Informative, but this is one of those cases in which seeing the movie is about as good.
March 5, 2021
I am not a big fan of Peter Pan, but I have liked some of Barrie's other plays, particularly Dear Brutus. However, I knew very little about Barrie's life, although there was a vague sense of him using a real little boy as a pattern for Peter. Never had the slightest interest in seeing Finding Neverland, and nothing in this book made me change my mind.
Birkin is . . . sly, which is an odd description for a biographer's style. He provides a cursory look at Barrie's career and life beyond his interactions with the Llewelyn-Davies family, but the book is about exactly what the title implies:: J.M. Barrie's relationship with the children.
Birkin is deadly. It becomes increasingly uncomfortable to read about Barrie's intrusion into their lives; Nico, the youngest, seems to have been the only one to come through the experience of Barrie's attention with minimal damage, but even there Birkin implies that Nico, the only brother still alive when he wrote this book, was hiding . . . something. What was it? Birkin devotes sufficient attention to the inventiveness of Peter Pan to establish the work as a masterpiece. But he also leaves no doubt that Peter Pan came at the cost of an emotionally suffocating relationship for the children that began when they were too young to realize what was happening. Birkin never accuses Barrie of physical molestation, but makes it painfully obvious that his interest in the boys was not parental. It was romantic. Many Victorian same-sex relationships were romantic without ever being sexual, and the language might be hyperbolic. But those romantic friendships were between adults, not an emotionally needy man and a series of very young children. There is no other way to put it but bluntly. Barrie stalked the boys, especially George and Michael. And Birkin sprinkles pictures of the pre-adolescent boys bathing nude throughout the book, with the notation always that the photograph was taken by Barrie himself. Barrie is depicted as drawn to their mother. Given that Birkin presents Barrie as a cold fish with women throughout his life (his marriage was a mistake from the start), this is improbable. What drew him to Mrs. Llewelyn-Davies was her motherhood . George was born by the time Barrie met the family, but he was there for the infancies of John, Peter, Michael and Nico. He was kind to the boys' father, but as a means to an end, and that end was access to the man's children.
Birkin tries to paint Barrie as a "boy who never grew up." That doesn't ring true, either. It was the boys who were never supposed to grow up. Barrie wanted them to remain under his sway. Honestly, the sheer passive-aggressiveness of the man when the children began to "outgrow" his stories is astounding. His letters of complaint give the impression that adolescence is a stage solely designed to wound J.M. Barrie. There are hints that George recognized Barrie was a drip before he was killed in World War I. His surviving letters are notably less effusive than Barrie's. John and Nico may not have been imaginative enough to fully engage Barrie's intensity. But Michael was a sensitive, brilliant young man by the time he died. There were rumors at the time that his drowning was actually suicide. Peter, who edited the family history that provided Birkin with a wealth of material, killed himself by leaping under a train in the 1950s. By that time his view of Barrie was jaundiced, and he took the precaution of burning as much of the Michael/Barrie correspondence as he could.
Where were the parents? The father died first from cancer. Birkin filters the deathbed mainly though the adult Henry, who thinks his father had to resent Barrie's emotional attachment to children who were taught to call him "Uncle Jim" despite the lack of blood relationship. Barrie was immensely wealthy, and could provide lovely vacations and financial assistance to his large adopted family. Peter and (let's be honest) Birkin think that the man must have resented the largesse. Birkin also makes less than veiled allusions to the idea that the mother was motivated by material comfort, both for herself and her boys after her early death. And to his credit, Barrie didn't stint any of the five until his death in 1937.
But they also paid a cost. And I'm sorry, but whether he consciously intended this to be the takeaway from this reader, Birkin left me a little horrified about the circumstances of the real story behind Peter Pan.
Birkin is . . . sly, which is an odd description for a biographer's style. He provides a cursory look at Barrie's career and life beyond his interactions with the Llewelyn-Davies family, but the book is about exactly what the title implies:: J.M. Barrie's relationship with the children.
Birkin is deadly. It becomes increasingly uncomfortable to read about Barrie's intrusion into their lives; Nico, the youngest, seems to have been the only one to come through the experience of Barrie's attention with minimal damage, but even there Birkin implies that Nico, the only brother still alive when he wrote this book, was hiding . . . something. What was it? Birkin devotes sufficient attention to the inventiveness of Peter Pan to establish the work as a masterpiece. But he also leaves no doubt that Peter Pan came at the cost of an emotionally suffocating relationship for the children that began when they were too young to realize what was happening. Birkin never accuses Barrie of physical molestation, but makes it painfully obvious that his interest in the boys was not parental. It was romantic. Many Victorian same-sex relationships were romantic without ever being sexual, and the language might be hyperbolic. But those romantic friendships were between adults, not an emotionally needy man and a series of very young children. There is no other way to put it but bluntly. Barrie stalked the boys, especially George and Michael. And Birkin sprinkles pictures of the pre-adolescent boys bathing nude throughout the book, with the notation always that the photograph was taken by Barrie himself. Barrie is depicted as drawn to their mother. Given that Birkin presents Barrie as a cold fish with women throughout his life (his marriage was a mistake from the start), this is improbable. What drew him to Mrs. Llewelyn-Davies was her motherhood . George was born by the time Barrie met the family, but he was there for the infancies of John, Peter, Michael and Nico. He was kind to the boys' father, but as a means to an end, and that end was access to the man's children.
Birkin tries to paint Barrie as a "boy who never grew up." That doesn't ring true, either. It was the boys who were never supposed to grow up. Barrie wanted them to remain under his sway. Honestly, the sheer passive-aggressiveness of the man when the children began to "outgrow" his stories is astounding. His letters of complaint give the impression that adolescence is a stage solely designed to wound J.M. Barrie. There are hints that George recognized Barrie was a drip before he was killed in World War I. His surviving letters are notably less effusive than Barrie's. John and Nico may not have been imaginative enough to fully engage Barrie's intensity. But Michael was a sensitive, brilliant young man by the time he died. There were rumors at the time that his drowning was actually suicide. Peter, who edited the family history that provided Birkin with a wealth of material, killed himself by leaping under a train in the 1950s. By that time his view of Barrie was jaundiced, and he took the precaution of burning as much of the Michael/Barrie correspondence as he could.
Where were the parents? The father died first from cancer. Birkin filters the deathbed mainly though the adult Henry, who thinks his father had to resent Barrie's emotional attachment to children who were taught to call him "Uncle Jim" despite the lack of blood relationship. Barrie was immensely wealthy, and could provide lovely vacations and financial assistance to his large adopted family. Peter and (let's be honest) Birkin think that the man must have resented the largesse. Birkin also makes less than veiled allusions to the idea that the mother was motivated by material comfort, both for herself and her boys after her early death. And to his credit, Barrie didn't stint any of the five until his death in 1937.
But they also paid a cost. And I'm sorry, but whether he consciously intended this to be the takeaway from this reader, Birkin left me a little horrified about the circumstances of the real story behind Peter Pan.
November 17, 2011
This very academic biography is touted as the "story behind the movie Finding Neverland" but it quickly becomes clear that the movie (not surprisingly really) is a highly romanticized version of the truth. Indeed, several key plot points in the movie prove to be patently untrue to life even if the movie is true in "essence." The biography itself was deadly dull in its presentation. It is chockful of primary documents but in such a way that it rather feels as if you are reading the research notes for the real biography. The author is also apparently responsible for a trilogy of documentary films on the subject so this book might stand better as a companion (and the research material) to those films. Far too many of Barrie's plays and fiction were quoted at great length under the guise of his writing being essentially autobiographical for my taste. The basic facts were of enough interest to compel me to finish the book but I would only recommend it to readers with a great interest in the subject.
December 31, 2007
This book absolutely haunts me.
November 7, 2024
I read this book as research for my thesis but I actually fell in love with it. I even shed some tears haha because I was moved quite often by Mr. Barrie and the beautiful way Andrew Birkin seemed to also be enchanted by him and the „darling“ family surrounding him and inspiring Peter Pan.
January 19, 2010
I couldn't say when Peter Pan became important in my life. Like Carroll's Alice, Peter has, no doubt, influenced and shaped a lot of my own writing. The images Barrie created then remain strong. Barrie the man I know very little about, but this book certainly helped.
As a collection of letters from Barrie to the Davies and various others as well as the reverse, Birkin has done his best to keep his opinion out and let the letters of the people who actually lived the lives speak for themselves. It is, I admit, confusing in ways.
Barrie's adoration for Sylvia and Arthur Davies' sons certainly gets the askance eye in our generation. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find some of his letters, particularly to George and Michael, to be weirdly personal on some level. Not simply because of the letters themselves which are, of course, personal, but the content and Barrie's devotion to the Davies family while his own family fell to the side. Nico, the youngest of the Davies boys, claims Barrie was completely innocent because only such a person could write a story like Peter Pan.
So while that aspect of Barrie and the boys will probably not be answered for me as I'm not sure how much is my "modern" culture looking back to the Victorians and Edwardians without knowing what the forms really were and how much more would be known if Peter hadn't burned so many letters? I can't start to imagine, but lives Barrie and the boys that shaped Peter Pan strikes me as incredibly tragic.
If anything, Birkin's book did what a good book should. It grabbed by attention (aside from being a subject that I wanted to read about) and I'm curious to know more about Barrie, to read other views. I have to say that at least Birkin was honest in his introduction about omitting this thing for that thing, so I did go in knowing there would be a slant. Thankfully it was more like a little tilt than the angle of a roof.
As strange as Barrie was, for I'm not coming away with the feeling that he was all together fully functional but perhaps that's a price one pays for art, I certainly don't like him less for his letters or manipulations or anything else. I have questions and there's sadness that he acted as he did, but I think what comes across, maybe even more than the fear of growing up, is the fear of being alone. But maybe, in a way, they're the same thing.
My one complaint about the edition I have is that every single photo, illustration, copy of a letter, etc. was placed in the center toward the spine. I cant' start to fathom what design process oversaw that, but it is particularly annoying. Still, it wasn't enough to make me give up on it.
As a collection of letters from Barrie to the Davies and various others as well as the reverse, Birkin has done his best to keep his opinion out and let the letters of the people who actually lived the lives speak for themselves. It is, I admit, confusing in ways.
Barrie's adoration for Sylvia and Arthur Davies' sons certainly gets the askance eye in our generation. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find some of his letters, particularly to George and Michael, to be weirdly personal on some level. Not simply because of the letters themselves which are, of course, personal, but the content and Barrie's devotion to the Davies family while his own family fell to the side. Nico, the youngest of the Davies boys, claims Barrie was completely innocent because only such a person could write a story like Peter Pan.
So while that aspect of Barrie and the boys will probably not be answered for me as I'm not sure how much is my "modern" culture looking back to the Victorians and Edwardians without knowing what the forms really were and how much more would be known if Peter hadn't burned so many letters? I can't start to imagine, but lives Barrie and the boys that shaped Peter Pan strikes me as incredibly tragic.
If anything, Birkin's book did what a good book should. It grabbed by attention (aside from being a subject that I wanted to read about) and I'm curious to know more about Barrie, to read other views. I have to say that at least Birkin was honest in his introduction about omitting this thing for that thing, so I did go in knowing there would be a slant. Thankfully it was more like a little tilt than the angle of a roof.
As strange as Barrie was, for I'm not coming away with the feeling that he was all together fully functional but perhaps that's a price one pays for art, I certainly don't like him less for his letters or manipulations or anything else. I have questions and there's sadness that he acted as he did, but I think what comes across, maybe even more than the fear of growing up, is the fear of being alone. But maybe, in a way, they're the same thing.
My one complaint about the edition I have is that every single photo, illustration, copy of a letter, etc. was placed in the center toward the spine. I cant' start to fathom what design process oversaw that, but it is particularly annoying. Still, it wasn't enough to make me give up on it.
October 14, 2014
Whew! This book was published in 1979; I don't know how I had skipped over it, given my love for the Late Victorian Era. Before assembling this book, Birkin had worked on a BBC special called The Lost Boys (that I have moved to the top of my queue on Netflix). Birkin was intimately familiar with all the primary sources from Barrie and the family he created for the five Llewellyn Jones orphans. He put as little narrative as possible between the reader and the sources, so the first chapters were slow going. When the realization dawns, however, that these boys will grow up to be thrown into the teeth of World War I, the letters are a fascinating glimpse into the anguish of that era when a whole generation was lost. I remember being similarly engrossed when I read A. S. Byatt's The Children's Book, a 2010 epic novel that also detailed what it was like to grow up in that generation.
This book revealed to me many ways that the popular film Finding Neverland confused the chronology about the five brothers and their influence on the work of James Barrie, who was one of the most successful and heralded writers of his day. It didn't begin--nor did it end--with Peter Pan. Even as the orphaned brothers matured and dealt with other adult issues and crises, they exerted an enormous influence on Barrie and his plays. The subtitle is provocative--The Love Story That Gave Birth to Peter Pan--but it also laid to rest for me any of the rumors from later generations that Barrie could only have had a prurient or pederastic interest in the boys. Again, Birkin let the sources tell the story: unflagging devotion from Barrie for the children of Sylvia and Arthur Llewellyn Davies resulted in unwavering gratitude from the "lost boys" long after Barrie's death in 1937.
Beyond providing a peek into the historical era, the book gave an authentic look at the wages of fame that I think will resonate with today's readers. Barrie was hugely famous but came to accept, perhaps, that he would never be successful in his marriage or any type of physically intimate relationship. Even though his marriage ended badly, he remained on good terms with his former wife and seemed to recognize the role that his temperament played in their demise as a couple. He also kidded the fourth sibling, his favorite, Michael Llewellyn Davies, as being "dark and impenetrable" once he reached maturity, but those were exactly the qualities that Barrie showed to many in his circle. There was such a huge gap between the public man and the private--one might even say introverted and insecure--individual.
This book revealed to me many ways that the popular film Finding Neverland confused the chronology about the five brothers and their influence on the work of James Barrie, who was one of the most successful and heralded writers of his day. It didn't begin--nor did it end--with Peter Pan. Even as the orphaned brothers matured and dealt with other adult issues and crises, they exerted an enormous influence on Barrie and his plays. The subtitle is provocative--The Love Story That Gave Birth to Peter Pan--but it also laid to rest for me any of the rumors from later generations that Barrie could only have had a prurient or pederastic interest in the boys. Again, Birkin let the sources tell the story: unflagging devotion from Barrie for the children of Sylvia and Arthur Llewellyn Davies resulted in unwavering gratitude from the "lost boys" long after Barrie's death in 1937.
Beyond providing a peek into the historical era, the book gave an authentic look at the wages of fame that I think will resonate with today's readers. Barrie was hugely famous but came to accept, perhaps, that he would never be successful in his marriage or any type of physically intimate relationship. Even though his marriage ended badly, he remained on good terms with his former wife and seemed to recognize the role that his temperament played in their demise as a couple. He also kidded the fourth sibling, his favorite, Michael Llewellyn Davies, as being "dark and impenetrable" once he reached maturity, but those were exactly the qualities that Barrie showed to many in his circle. There was such a huge gap between the public man and the private--one might even say introverted and insecure--individual.
July 31, 2010
While reading this biography, I couldn't help noticing similarities between J.M. Barrie and Michael Jackson. Both men were considered very child-like. Both were more comfortable with children than with adults. Both were unusual looking by "normal" standards. (Barrie was barely 5'3".) Both were very rich and famous. (Barrie was the top playwright of his era; "Peter Pan" being his best know work.) Both men were suspected of being pedophiles. J.M. Barrie's life was filled with more tragedy than Jackson's and he lived longer but their situations are hard to ignore.
Like Jackson, Barrie insinuated himself into the lives of families through their children. He and his wife were childless so he attached himself to other people's children. In the case of Barrie, it was the Llewelyen-Davies family of five sons. His particular fondness for two of the boys, George and Michael, was apparent, to everyone. "Uncle Jim" based many of his characters on the Davies boys, as well as on himself and others close to him. His unflattering, and obvious, autobiographical depictions of situations and persons were deemed in questionable taste by some critics and those portrayed.
This book makes clear that J.M. Barrie, for all his success, did not have a particularly happy life. Tragic circumstances abounded and he was already prone to depression. Although Barrie tried his best to buy happiness, money was no guarantee.
Like Jackson, Barrie insinuated himself into the lives of families through their children. He and his wife were childless so he attached himself to other people's children. In the case of Barrie, it was the Llewelyen-Davies family of five sons. His particular fondness for two of the boys, George and Michael, was apparent, to everyone. "Uncle Jim" based many of his characters on the Davies boys, as well as on himself and others close to him. His unflattering, and obvious, autobiographical depictions of situations and persons were deemed in questionable taste by some critics and those portrayed.
This book makes clear that J.M. Barrie, for all his success, did not have a particularly happy life. Tragic circumstances abounded and he was already prone to depression. Although Barrie tried his best to buy happiness, money was no guarantee.
April 10, 2017
I never thought that reading his biography would turn out as pleasant as it was (although the things that Barrie went through in his life weren't always that pleasant ...). Even though Barrie was often seen as a serious and even weird persona, he was pretty damn hilarious in my opinion.
Birkin used a very easy writing style to take the reader on his journey: the different passages from Peter's "Morgue", Nico's thoughts and the many, many letters show you the authenticity, if you don't believe what Birkin is writing you can always look at the excerpts. Nevertheless, they sometimes bother me, since there are so damn many of them and they weren't always as interesting as one would hope. But that doesn't mean that it didn't read fluently! The emotion is around every turn of a page and the story takes you on a complete roller coaster (if yo u don't feel a tiny bit sad at the death's of George and Michael I don't think you really understood Barrie's emotions for either of them (not that they're sexual or something! In my opinion nothing of that matter is going on, I believe Peter even said so himself (there is an excerpt somewhere in the book)).
This book gives a clear insight in Barrie's life and I'm immensely grateful for it, since I'm currently writing a huge paper on Barrie and "Peter Pan" and this gives me the perfect material for a more in depth analysis of Barrie's life.
Birkin used a very easy writing style to take the reader on his journey: the different passages from Peter's "Morgue", Nico's thoughts and the many, many letters show you the authenticity, if you don't believe what Birkin is writing you can always look at the excerpts. Nevertheless, they sometimes bother me, since there are so damn many of them and they weren't always as interesting as one would hope. But that doesn't mean that it didn't read fluently! The emotion is around every turn of a page and the story takes you on a complete roller coaster (if yo u don't feel a tiny bit sad at the death's of George and Michael I don't think you really understood Barrie's emotions for either of them (not that they're sexual or something! In my opinion nothing of that matter is going on, I believe Peter even said so himself (there is an excerpt somewhere in the book)).
This book gives a clear insight in Barrie's life and I'm immensely grateful for it, since I'm currently writing a huge paper on Barrie and "Peter Pan" and this gives me the perfect material for a more in depth analysis of Barrie's life.
February 11, 2020
Works of literature can profoundly effect the lives of their authors and people surrounding their authors, which is especially true of classics that become embedded in the culture. Peter Pan has lived for each generation since its inception, even having a psychological syndrome named after him. This book tells of the boys in Barrie's life who inspired Pan and Neverland. The story of how Barrie slowly adopted the children and to a degree wife of Arthur Llewelyn Davies, even while the father was living, is told in details and told by those involved through their letters, diaries, interviews, journals, and published writings. Barrie's own writings were tied directly and very closely to his own feelings and desires. This is a masterpiece of primary research with many first person narratives. Barrie is not painted as a villain. We see him as a peculiar genius whose creation still lives today. But that creation took a toll on his life and the lives of his inspirations. There are many photographs to complete this book that first appeared in 1979 and thankfully has been reprinted a few times.
April 23, 2015
I became interested in J.M. Barrie after watching Finding Neverland. After doing some research on Barrie and the Llewellyn Davies boys it became apparent that the movie was a bunch of made-up Hollywood garbage and if I wanted to delve into the true story, I would need to find a good biography. Birkin does a fine job of recounting Barrie's life and his involvement with the Llewellyn Davies family without actually writing a conventional biography. He uses excerpts from letters and the writings of Barrie to present the story and allows the reader to conclude what she or he will. The book captured my interest from start to finish and it allowed me enough room to make up my own mind about this "strange little man" and the family with whom he became bizarrely entangled. The story of Barrie and his "lost boys" is tragic and compelling. It makes one look at the story of Peter Pan with a new perspective and it casts a shadow over the story/play that is romantic, heartbreaking, and disturbing. Well worth the read!
May 16, 2020
Necessary prerequisite, companion, or post-reading for Peter Pan. I knew the gist of events (thanks to Wikipedia and P. Pan being my favorite novel), but this—this puts lives and deaths into perspective. This made me fall in love with almost every person in turn. This is the true and the fascinating, and here (unlike elsewhere), the incredible Barrie/Llewelyn Davies love story is done justice.
I cannot praise it enough. I loved and grieved and learned and laughed and begrudged and forgave and appreciated and admired and WEPT. An immediate favorite, to go hand-in-hand with Peter Pan, which I hesitate to call a work of fiction after seeing the painful way it pulled from half a dozen very real lives.
I only wish the author was given the space necessary to fill out the entirety of this story, rather than being forced by publishers to condense the ending to suit a much too-short page count. Regardless: bravo, Birkin.
Yours affec.,
J. M. Stein
I cannot praise it enough. I loved and grieved and learned and laughed and begrudged and forgave and appreciated and admired and WEPT. An immediate favorite, to go hand-in-hand with Peter Pan, which I hesitate to call a work of fiction after seeing the painful way it pulled from half a dozen very real lives.
I only wish the author was given the space necessary to fill out the entirety of this story, rather than being forced by publishers to condense the ending to suit a much too-short page count. Regardless: bravo, Birkin.
Yours affec.,
J. M. Stein
February 12, 2018
Billed as “the real story behind Peter Pan” this biography of JM Barrie the playwright and author best known for Peter Pan was a little dark. Starting with Peter’s suicide as the intro to the book and ending with the mysterious drowning of Michael. I thought that it was incredibly interesting how for most parts of Barrie’s story Birkin was able to add commentary from Peter’s writings. While it’s clear that Barrie cared immensely for the Llewelyn Davies boys it’s hard to tell if his influence on their life was positive.
August 5, 2007
This book is one of the best biographies I've read. Mr. Birkin attempts to remain unbiased as he gives us glimpses of Barrie through the accounts of his friends, family, acquaintances, and even through Barrie's own letters and writings. Barrie was a facinating man, if lonely, human, and misunderstood. The events that inspired and surrounded his life are truely exceptional, and make me wish I had known him.
September 16, 2017
3.5. There's a reason Birkin is the definitive JMB expert. With a delicate hand, he weaves together a variety of primary sources to tell the story of J.M. Barrie and his intimate relationship with the Llewellyn Davies family. It approaches the subject from an academic mindset- this is not easy, breezy bedtime reading. Learning more about Barrie's life will impact the way you view his classic characters; for some, the additional knowledge will taint and for others it will expand the meaning.
September 4, 2020
Insightful account of J.M. Barrie and the 5 Davies brothers. Heartbreaking throughout, but still moving. Must look into watching Andrew Birkin's The Lost Boys series next.
April 2, 2023
As many others who have loved and adored the story of 'Peter Pan', I thought I'd read a biography of J.M.Barrie to get a real sense of where the story stemmed from. Before diving into this book, I was aware of the role and involvement the Llewelyn-Davies boys had in inspiring J.M.Barrie to write 'Peter Pan' however what this biography did was dive even deeper into the relationship between each of the boys and J.M.Barrie and what transpired was haunting and heart breaking.
This biography's main focus was very much on the Llewelyn-Davies boys, but what Andrew Birkin did was cultivate a sense of who J.M.Barrie was through the eyes of the boys and others who knew him. I think the biggest take away for me from this biography was all the tragedy and loss which perpetuated throughout J.M.Barrie's life, right from when he was a child and the impact that had on him into adulthood. How all that grief and trauma then further manifested itself in his relationship with the boys in an incredibly obsessive and unhealthy way.
J.M.Barrie came across as a man who at his core desperately yearned for deeper connections with others but did not necessarily know how to healthily generate such connections. His internal loneliness and longing was very apparent and it was unfortunately perhaps what made him such an incredible writer of his time.
Lastly, I have to say, reading the letters from George, Peter and Guy Du Maurier regaling their experiences during World War 1 was heart breaking. The entire biography came to life for me at this point, realising just how real every account, every letter in this biography had been. The moment I read about George being killed during the war especially after reading all the letters he'd sent to J.M. Barrie moved me to tears. The Llewelyn-Davies boys truly lived through a lot of loss and trauma. It makes the story of 'Peter Pan' feel even more poignant and heart wrenching.
This biography's main focus was very much on the Llewelyn-Davies boys, but what Andrew Birkin did was cultivate a sense of who J.M.Barrie was through the eyes of the boys and others who knew him. I think the biggest take away for me from this biography was all the tragedy and loss which perpetuated throughout J.M.Barrie's life, right from when he was a child and the impact that had on him into adulthood. How all that grief and trauma then further manifested itself in his relationship with the boys in an incredibly obsessive and unhealthy way.
J.M.Barrie came across as a man who at his core desperately yearned for deeper connections with others but did not necessarily know how to healthily generate such connections. His internal loneliness and longing was very apparent and it was unfortunately perhaps what made him such an incredible writer of his time.
Lastly, I have to say, reading the letters from George, Peter and Guy Du Maurier regaling their experiences during World War 1 was heart breaking. The entire biography came to life for me at this point, realising just how real every account, every letter in this biography had been. The moment I read about George being killed during the war especially after reading all the letters he'd sent to J.M. Barrie moved me to tears. The Llewelyn-Davies boys truly lived through a lot of loss and trauma. It makes the story of 'Peter Pan' feel even more poignant and heart wrenching.
July 4, 2017
I almost thought that I would not be able to finish this book as the first 50 pages or so were SO dry, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Barrie's story itself became much more interesting & I was surprised at the almost pathological obsession that he had with the Davies family. The author adds to his own narrative plenty of excerpts from letters, play drafts and scripts plus wonderful photos. The Davies family (Arthur & Sylvia & their boys George, John, Peter, Michael & Nico) were very photogenic. And their story has very tragic arc. I never hear about anything else of note other than Peter Pan that Barrie wrote but he was quite prolific and successful in his day. His relationships not only with the Davies family but with others also gives one much to think about. However, I won't let this unveiling of his life destroy the magic of Peter Pan for me!
March 30, 2023
Reliably reported through primary sources, with references to Barrie's plays, stories, and journals. Barrie was a beloved English celebrity before Peter Pan was produced, then dined out on it for the rest on his days. His relationship with the Llewellyn Davies family struck most people as odd, but nothing untoward was ever believed, and will not be proven here.
Once we are in the realm of letters and diaries, this begins to read like Barrie's dayplanner, and this can drag in spots. Long excerpts of his glurgy novels remind us just how twee British literature could get, where children piped things like, "Oh, Dear Mother!" ( a paraphrase, but probably also an accidental quote from *something*). I skipped a lot of these sections.
Photographs throughout, but none that reveals Barrie was allegedly 5'3".
Once we are in the realm of letters and diaries, this begins to read like Barrie's dayplanner, and this can drag in spots. Long excerpts of his glurgy novels remind us just how twee British literature could get, where children piped things like, "Oh, Dear Mother!" ( a paraphrase, but probably also an accidental quote from *something*). I skipped a lot of these sections.
Photographs throughout, but none that reveals Barrie was allegedly 5'3".
December 29, 2018
4/5 - I have always had such an intrinsic interest in the life of author J.M Barrie especially his relationship and influence of the Llewelyn-Davies family so this book provided everything I have been looking for for years! Due to the book being completely non-fiction I was able to learn about his life without the story being tampered with or romanticised in any way providing me with an objective view of his life. From reading this book I have also developed a new TBR list of other works by Barrie that I am now very intrigued to read.
June 17, 2023
I found this biography fascinating. First, I think Barrie was “asexual” but any sexual feelings he had were certainly inspired by young boys. That doesn’t mean he acted on them, however. I don’t think the comparison with Michael Jackson is apt because I think Jackson did sexually abuse young boys. Barrie was a complex, driven and charismatic man. Many consider him a genius-level writer and I think he was although Peter Pan is the only one of his works to be well-known today. Barrie was very much a product of his times - and his biography gives an intriguing glimpse of British culture as it was during the pre-WW I period. The book was a page turner for me and I loved the photographs illustrating the various stages of Barrie’s life and that of “his boys”. It’s a tragic story and highly disturbing - not an easy read, but very extremely well-researched, well-written and enlightening. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
November 12, 2019
Interesting history behind the original play of Peter Pan, and the origin of the stories portrayed. I had no idea JM Barrie was a successful playwright, having never heard of any other plays by him. I mostly know Peter Pan from the book and the movies. Definitely one of the odder authors out there, but with an incredible knowledge of children.
October 28, 2023
I adore this book and have returned to it over and over again. The more I read of the Peter Pan corpus, the more I find in Birkin’s painstaking research and fluent prose. A story that never fails to make me emotional. Beautifully done.
January 11, 2025
Sad Biography of the Man Who was Peter Pan
J.M. Barrie's biography is interesting at times, but it is quite melancholy and often at least somewhat disturbing. His relationships with the Llewellyn Davies family members are extraordinary.
J.M. Barrie's biography is interesting at times, but it is quite melancholy and often at least somewhat disturbing. His relationships with the Llewellyn Davies family members are extraordinary.
October 7, 2018
Nothing special here. If anything, Barrie struck me as a very lonely man looking for a place where the world didn't hurt.
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