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Wendy
In a compelling and magical novel set before Wendy Darling meets Peter Pan, intrepid Wendy sneaks out of the nursery to spy on one of her parents' glamorous parties, but what she sees changes her life forever and triggers a series of confusing adventures as she tries to solve the mysteries that lie at the heart of her family.
307 pages, Hardcover
First published October 6, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
January 3, 2010
This book was like poison. Half-way through I had to put it down and give up on its ever getting better. This book for me totally ruins the magical world of Peter Pan.
It is suppose to be Wendy's Pre-Peter Pan world. It doesn't paint a very pretty one. This novel seems bent on portraying every worse case scenario that could happen to children in Victorian England. It is filled with petty, shallow, and immoral characters. Wendy is continually hurt and betrayed by the adults in her life. From this author's perspective, it is easy to see why Wendy would never want to grow up and become an adult. If I were her, I would have run away to Neverland, too!
Bad things kept on occurring to the children in the book, but I finally put it down in disgust when it became apparent that Wendy's adored and child-like mother was having an affair with a mentally handicapped 15 year old boy. I don't know why this novel was so critically acclaimed and praised, but it definitely painted pictures that I didn't want to read!
It is suppose to be Wendy's Pre-Peter Pan world. It doesn't paint a very pretty one. This novel seems bent on portraying every worse case scenario that could happen to children in Victorian England. It is filled with petty, shallow, and immoral characters. Wendy is continually hurt and betrayed by the adults in her life. From this author's perspective, it is easy to see why Wendy would never want to grow up and become an adult. If I were her, I would have run away to Neverland, too!
Bad things kept on occurring to the children in the book, but I finally put it down in disgust when it became apparent that Wendy's adored and child-like mother was having an affair with a mentally handicapped 15 year old boy. I don't know why this novel was so critically acclaimed and praised, but it definitely painted pictures that I didn't want to read!
June 24, 2022
2⭐️
Wendy is a little girl who finds out her father is having an affair. Wendy is confused when she sees her father kissing another woman. Wendy and her brother John are sent to their uncle. In the meantime, her father does more crazy things that aren't supposed to.
A boy Thomas lives with her uncle. She finds out that Thomas is her brother, but her father didn't want him.
I thought this book would be a retelling of Wendy with Peter pan storyline. Unfortunately this is not the case. At the end you read something about at the end of a thought of younger Thomas who can fly.
The writing style was okay. Not the best and storyline was confusing at times too
Wendy is a little girl who finds out her father is having an affair. Wendy is confused when she sees her father kissing another woman. Wendy and her brother John are sent to their uncle. In the meantime, her father does more crazy things that aren't supposed to.
A boy Thomas lives with her uncle. She finds out that Thomas is her brother, but her father didn't want him.
I thought this book would be a retelling of Wendy with Peter pan storyline. Unfortunately this is not the case. At the end you read something about at the end of a thought of younger Thomas who can fly.
The writing style was okay. Not the best and storyline was confusing at times too
May 5, 2009
I was pre-reading this to see if it was appropriate for my eight-year-old, who wants to read every Peter Pan related book written in English.
It was entirely realistic with not a touch of fantasy. After spending so many pages observing this perceptive little girl's agony, caused by her precocious ability to empathize with adult problems like adultery and financial ruin, the author provides us only an overly simplistic resolution that no one older than fourteen could believe really helps anything get better. When her contact with Peter is finally foreshadowed, the author insinuates that he's the product of an emotionally deprived child's head trauma.
A sad and pointless story. I'm not letting my kid touch this with a ten foot pole.
It was entirely realistic with not a touch of fantasy. After spending so many pages observing this perceptive little girl's agony, caused by her precocious ability to empathize with adult problems like adultery and financial ruin, the author provides us only an overly simplistic resolution that no one older than fourteen could believe really helps anything get better. When her contact with Peter is finally foreshadowed, the author insinuates that he's the product of an emotionally deprived child's head trauma.
A sad and pointless story. I'm not letting my kid touch this with a ten foot pole.
January 2, 2011
Using Wendy Darling from "Peter Pan" as her focal point, Wallace re-creates the upstairs-downstairs world of Edwardian society that was both hypocritical and destructive to its children. Nine-year-old Wendy is aware of how little sway she has in her home. The nanny can hit her and her brothers and routinely fill them with castor oil, and her oblivious mother doesn't notice.
To gain power, Wendy becomes a spy and in so doing learns something she doesn't want to know--her father is having an affair. When she sees her father kiss Lady Cunningham on the mouth, Wendy is confused and stunned. After she and her brothers are sent to Uncle Arthur's country estate for the summer, Mr. Darling sinks lower, crashing his car while driving drunk, losing all of his money, and getting fired from his job.
Wendy loves being at Rosegrove, where she is able to see Thomas, a teenager considered "soft in the head." Seeing her mother hugging him confuses Wendy even more. She eventually learns that Thomas is her brother, who was not perfect enough for her father.
In a rapid and pat conclusion, Mr. Darling reforms, the Cunninghams move away, and Thomas's artistic abilities are recognized. Wallace draws an interesting portrait of the world of the privileged classes in early-20th-century London.
There are some elements of fantasy: Wendy can read the thoughts of Nana, the big black Newfoundland that dispenses advice; and her final dream of flying comes from a creation of Thomas's mind, a young boy who would never grow up.
But who is the audience for this novel? Wendy, while old for her years, is only nine, yet the themes seem more appropriate for older readers. She sees something that changes her life forever, which is perhaps why she chose to visit Peter in Neverland.
A major theme in Barrie's "Peter Pan" is that children can have perfectly happy home lives and still wish to fly away, just to see what's out there, confident in the belief that they can always come home, that Mother will leave a window open. Wallace completely ignores this concept. Most of the time it just seemed like a completely different novel whose charachters happened to have the same name as the Darlings.
More of Purplycookie’s Reviews @: http://www.goodreads.com/purplycookie
Book Details:
Title Wendy
Author Karen Wallace
Reviewed By Purplycookie
To gain power, Wendy becomes a spy and in so doing learns something she doesn't want to know--her father is having an affair. When she sees her father kiss Lady Cunningham on the mouth, Wendy is confused and stunned. After she and her brothers are sent to Uncle Arthur's country estate for the summer, Mr. Darling sinks lower, crashing his car while driving drunk, losing all of his money, and getting fired from his job.
Wendy loves being at Rosegrove, where she is able to see Thomas, a teenager considered "soft in the head." Seeing her mother hugging him confuses Wendy even more. She eventually learns that Thomas is her brother, who was not perfect enough for her father.
In a rapid and pat conclusion, Mr. Darling reforms, the Cunninghams move away, and Thomas's artistic abilities are recognized. Wallace draws an interesting portrait of the world of the privileged classes in early-20th-century London.
There are some elements of fantasy: Wendy can read the thoughts of Nana, the big black Newfoundland that dispenses advice; and her final dream of flying comes from a creation of Thomas's mind, a young boy who would never grow up.
But who is the audience for this novel? Wendy, while old for her years, is only nine, yet the themes seem more appropriate for older readers. She sees something that changes her life forever, which is perhaps why she chose to visit Peter in Neverland.
A major theme in Barrie's "Peter Pan" is that children can have perfectly happy home lives and still wish to fly away, just to see what's out there, confident in the belief that they can always come home, that Mother will leave a window open. Wallace completely ignores this concept. Most of the time it just seemed like a completely different novel whose charachters happened to have the same name as the Darlings.
More of Purplycookie’s Reviews @: http://www.goodreads.com/purplycookie
Book Details:
Title Wendy
Author Karen Wallace
Reviewed By Purplycookie
October 19, 2024
A very fast read that was a nice break from everything. Fun to hear a different perspective on Wendy’s backstory, and it definitely did not go the way I was expecting. It didn’t require much thinking while reading, which is what I was looking for as my next book to read but do not typically choose
March 27, 2017
What a depressing little read. No connection to Peter Pan apart from the names and a sure way of spoiling the magic of Peter Pan.
July 26, 2010
Wendy
By Karen Wallace
307 pages
Simon Pulse
ISBN 1-4169-0314-3
Wendy Darling is a simple girl who doesn't ask for much, just that she wants some love and care from her family. She wants to get away from the supervision of the unreasonable nanny who's been working for the Darling's family since Wendy and her two younger brothers, John and Michael, were born. Every day, the three kids would be supervised by their nanny and they aren't allowed to do anything besides doing what they're told to do by the unfair nanny. It wasn't until one day when both Wendy and Michael sneaked out of their rooms to watch the attendance of each person enterring their house to attend the party hosted by their parents. This is when the secret begins to reveal, and it leads to more mystery and questions floating in the mind of young teenage Wendy about her family.
The writing style of Karen Wallace leads me to read at an unstoppable pace. When I began reading the book, I wasn't too interested and was about to give up, but when the interesting part came, my hands couldn't get off the book. The description of the actions that were being done by the characters in the book made you want to watch it in person. Although there were times when I was confused with what I'm reading, the rest of the paragraph made me get back into place, which I thought she used good context clues to clue me back into the picture.
I would recommend this book for young adult readers because kids younger than this age group wouldn't really be able to understand what's happening in the story. This story is kind of saddening and only readers around this age group might be able to feel how Wendy is feeling and think like how Wendy is thinking. For kids so young, they wouldn't understand what the decisions made are and they especially wouldn't know why those decisions were applied. In general, mostly young adult readers would be suitable for reading this book.
By Karen Wallace
307 pages
Simon Pulse
ISBN 1-4169-0314-3
Wendy Darling is a simple girl who doesn't ask for much, just that she wants some love and care from her family. She wants to get away from the supervision of the unreasonable nanny who's been working for the Darling's family since Wendy and her two younger brothers, John and Michael, were born. Every day, the three kids would be supervised by their nanny and they aren't allowed to do anything besides doing what they're told to do by the unfair nanny. It wasn't until one day when both Wendy and Michael sneaked out of their rooms to watch the attendance of each person enterring their house to attend the party hosted by their parents. This is when the secret begins to reveal, and it leads to more mystery and questions floating in the mind of young teenage Wendy about her family.
The writing style of Karen Wallace leads me to read at an unstoppable pace. When I began reading the book, I wasn't too interested and was about to give up, but when the interesting part came, my hands couldn't get off the book. The description of the actions that were being done by the characters in the book made you want to watch it in person. Although there were times when I was confused with what I'm reading, the rest of the paragraph made me get back into place, which I thought she used good context clues to clue me back into the picture.
I would recommend this book for young adult readers because kids younger than this age group wouldn't really be able to understand what's happening in the story. This story is kind of saddening and only readers around this age group might be able to feel how Wendy is feeling and think like how Wendy is thinking. For kids so young, they wouldn't understand what the decisions made are and they especially wouldn't know why those decisions were applied. In general, mostly young adult readers would be suitable for reading this book.
April 8, 2016
Meh.
I was really excited to read this one, and in the end I just found it plain disappointing.
First, it's marketed as a prequel; it's not, really. More of an alternative, "If Wendy made up the whole thing, including Peter, in her head, and based it on somebody else, what would have led her to do this?" sorta thing.
(Or maybe it's actually not; that was a huge part of my problem with this book. It felt like it was trying to have it both ways. The slow brother was the inspiration for Peter Pan, but no wait, we're meant to believe this is ALSO a straight-up prequel? Talk about trying to have your cake and eat it too!)
Second, it's well written but the story feels all over the place. We really didn't need to know about Wendy and John's nasty friends, and the George Darling having an affair deal could have been better handled, or at least had a point to it.
I was going to give it one star, but the prose has it's nice moments and it's a decent Edwardian-style novel, so I took pity and gave it two stars.
Don't recommend.
I was really excited to read this one, and in the end I just found it plain disappointing.
First, it's marketed as a prequel; it's not, really. More of an alternative, "If Wendy made up the whole thing, including Peter, in her head, and based it on somebody else, what would have led her to do this?" sorta thing.
(Or maybe it's actually not; that was a huge part of my problem with this book. It felt like it was trying to have it both ways. The slow brother was the inspiration for Peter Pan, but no wait, we're meant to believe this is ALSO a straight-up prequel? Talk about trying to have your cake and eat it too!)
Second, it's well written but the story feels all over the place. We really didn't need to know about Wendy and John's nasty friends, and the George Darling having an affair deal could have been better handled, or at least had a point to it.
I was going to give it one star, but the prose has it's nice moments and it's a decent Edwardian-style novel, so I took pity and gave it two stars.
Don't recommend.
April 11, 2021
I was curious to see the author's take on Wendy's life before Peter Pan. I didn't like it. I was interested at first, but the further on the book went, the more dissatisfied I became. By the end, I didn't appreciate the way the story had gone and I decided that I'm fine with the Peter Pan story I knew before. This didn't make it any more magical or meaningful. It just complicated things a bit more, and actually made some of the characters quite unlikable. I hated how Mr. Darling was a cheating, drunken mess. Yes, he had issues at the start of the original story, but this turned him into an outright monster. His miraculous turn-around at the conclusion of the book was not believable. And the identity/story of the the boy who is (or rather becomes...) Peter Pan? No. I'm sorry but... no. Let's stick with a young, unknown boy who flies through the window please.
All together, I didn't appreciate this book as much as I wanted to. I think the idea of the story before Peter Pan came is a fascinating one. It just wasn't accomplished very well in this book.
December 2, 2017
For those interested in Peter Pan and his fantasy world this is not the book. I first read this book when I was six (before knowing who or what Peter Pan was) and I absolutely loved this book. I loved the characters and how they developed. There are a lot of reviews here looking down on the book because they were expecting it to be magical, as it is quite misleading. But this book takes the story of Peter Pan and paints it in a realistic way from the pov of Wendy an insightful girl full of questions. Though my own mother let me read this book at a very young age I would say the age bracket for this book would be from eight upwards. As it touches on serious topics of troubled family life and strained marriage (trying to keep it vague as to not spoil the book.) This book for me was a fascinating read but be warned it is not the magical Peter Pan you are expecting. This is the real world for Wendy Darling experiencing issues that hit hard to home for many people. This book may not be for everyone but I adored it.
April 9, 2013
The pre-Peter Pan story, really has nothing to do with the magical Neverland at all. Honestly, the characters didn't have much of a resemblance to what would be later to come.
Wendy Darling and her brothers are not having a fantastic time. They have a horrible Nanny who is abusive, their parents do not get along, and their "friends" treat them like crap. The end wraps up neatly with resolutions that are unrealistic.
For a book that was clearly written for a much younger audience (large font and double spaced), the story dealt with mature topics that Wendy only brushed at. I feel that it was heavy but unexplained. If the author is going to walk that path, I think the audience should have been changed and the plots hashed out more.
July 7, 2013
Ok this might be the worst book I've ever read. And I've read A LOT of books. I mean it was confusing and things were so sudden. One minute the family is separate and rich. A few chapters later the father crashes his car, loses his job, drinks himself into a drunken stupor ever night, is found in an affair, and goes broke. Then in the end all the sudden the father sells off his car, loves the mother again, Wendy is super happy, Letitia moves away, and the father finds a job again? And this all happened in what? 6 pages? This book has kind of ruined any book revolving around the whole Peter Pan theme for me. I can safely say that this book completely and totally SUCKS!
February 16, 2016
(3.5 stars) One of my childhood favourites!
August 17, 2015
I don't really know what to think about this book it was really weird........
March 11, 2024
I LOVED this book. Lots of people left negative reviews here, which left me wondering if I should start the journey, and I'm glad I did.
For those of you expecting a Peter Pan prequel, or origin, or something of that nature, I can understand why this is not the book for you.
But if you read this as a Victorian novel with the characters of the Darling Family in a realistic setting, you'll have a good time. That does not mean it's for everyone- Peter Pan is magic, and Victorian London is...Victorian London. But for me, I LOVE that. Give me the dreary childhood tales and original stories before the characters flew to Neverland. I'm in for that, and I'll reread this one.
It's not perfect, and some of the characters and plot shifts sometimes, but I still really enjoyed this one. I don't really recommend it for young teens either, but then again I'm not in their marketing department, and I know I would've read it at that age. But this is just my preference and always has been for stories.
For those of you expecting a Peter Pan prequel, or origin, or something of that nature, I can understand why this is not the book for you.
But if you read this as a Victorian novel with the characters of the Darling Family in a realistic setting, you'll have a good time. That does not mean it's for everyone- Peter Pan is magic, and Victorian London is...Victorian London. But for me, I LOVE that. Give me the dreary childhood tales and original stories before the characters flew to Neverland. I'm in for that, and I'll reread this one.
It's not perfect, and some of the characters and plot shifts sometimes, but I still really enjoyed this one. I don't really recommend it for young teens either, but then again I'm not in their marketing department, and I know I would've read it at that age. But this is just my preference and always has been for stories.
July 10, 2017
Where did you get this book? this book was 20p from a Library clearance sale.
This book follows the life of Wendy Darling in an average old style London, there's no magic, there's no mystery, this is normal life through the eyes of a child and there's something low-key magical about it. Her approach to life and how she deals with various situations presents something so clear but I also feel like this book, for being set in my favourite universe, was a little lacklustre. I wanted more than just one mention of Peter Pan at the end of the book to be honest, and I wanted more drama than her father kissing another woman and being a drunkard. I just feel as though life is beautiful and magical, and I think this book portrayed this kind of, but it also missed something.
This book follows the life of Wendy Darling in an average old style London, there's no magic, there's no mystery, this is normal life through the eyes of a child and there's something low-key magical about it. Her approach to life and how she deals with various situations presents something so clear but I also feel like this book, for being set in my favourite universe, was a little lacklustre. I wanted more than just one mention of Peter Pan at the end of the book to be honest, and I wanted more drama than her father kissing another woman and being a drunkard. I just feel as though life is beautiful and magical, and I think this book portrayed this kind of, but it also missed something.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2017
[Written: 4-14-2004, Edited: 8-7-2017] This was a great story centering on the witty female character of the original Peter Pan, Wendy Darling. Despite the barely there, but-present sexual content -- which there was very little, thank goodness -- the story was compelling.
Wendy Darling's hardships centered around her misunderstanding and misinterpretations of her father's affairs is intriguing, and makes Wendy's character hard not to like. Wendy is struggling to grasp a situation she has lived outside of, uninvolved, for most of her life. To be thrust into it without really broaching the subject face-to-face with her family, reveals all sorts of interesting things about her as a character through Karen Wallace's interpretation of the character.
Wendy Darling's hardships centered around her misunderstanding and misinterpretations of her father's affairs is intriguing, and makes Wendy's character hard not to like. Wendy is struggling to grasp a situation she has lived outside of, uninvolved, for most of her life. To be thrust into it without really broaching the subject face-to-face with her family, reveals all sorts of interesting things about her as a character through Karen Wallace's interpretation of the character.
January 20, 2022
i read this because no one ever took it out from the school library so i got to take it home and keep it and uhhhhhh wtf did i just read. so many weird moments. also i understand this to be a Pre-Peter Pan novel about Wendy Darling?? COULD THERE HAVE BEEN SOME REFERENCE TO PETER HIMSELF??!?!?!?!?! literally i forgot that this was a prequel. i just thought it was some weird ass book about child abuse and… i can’t even remember what other themes there were because there were so many and they weren’t fleshed out at all. Oh here’s one: HOW NOT TO RAISE YOUR KIDS 101. or maybe A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO ALLOWING YOUR MARRIAGE TO COLLAPSE. mr and mrs darling need to get a grip. GET IT TOGETHER BARBIE.
November 23, 2021
I remember seeing this book when I was in middle school at the public library and trying it out. I never got past the first couple chapters because I was a slow reader. I remembered thinking it was interesting, so I picked it back up to read it all the way through as an adult. I enjoyed the book. Even though it was primarily sad, I feel it was well written and well thought out. When you think about kids that would be willing to fly away with a stranger like in Peter Pan, it would make sense that their reality is far from perfect. I liked the elements of the time period that were sprinkled in. It wasn't perfect, but I did enjoy it.
July 23, 2017
This book was actually quite poignant for me. I will admit,I was mislead by the title thinking Peter Pan would be in the story,warning though:he's not.
Despite all of that I kept reading and I quite enjoyed it. It gave me some insight into the characters I had come to love in Peter Pan. This book was about her and the many trails she went through made me feel various emotions along with her. Though the ending was on a hopeful note,I still felt quite..hollow after reading it. It was a good book all in all.
Despite all of that I kept reading and I quite enjoyed it. It gave me some insight into the characters I had come to love in Peter Pan. This book was about her and the many trails she went through made me feel various emotions along with her. Though the ending was on a hopeful note,I still felt quite..hollow after reading it. It was a good book all in all.
October 5, 2017
One of the themes or topics that I can't read is betrayal and I didn't expect it to come when I read the back cover. I had to calm myself down again and again to read past that. Overall the writing style is quite easy to read and I like how it is in children's perspective and you can read how confused they are. The ending felt quite rushed and although it's a happy ending I still have some questions in mind so I can't be fully satisfied with it.
January 6, 2019
Set in the 20th century this book is not so much a retelling as a reimaging of the beloved classic Peter Pan telling the story of Wendy Darling and her family who are being ripped apart by secrets, lies, betrayals and narcissism. As Wendy's life unravels she copes the best she can. This book will grip you right from the first page and keep you hooked until the last...and will leave you wondering about the boy who never grew up.
May 12, 2020
It took me maybe 3 times to get through this book, but I finally did it.
This story is about Wendy Darling, before Peter Pan and Never Never Land.
Wendy is a young tween who is becoming aware of the socioeconomic position her family is in. This story deals with growth, first love, and the loss of innocence.
The ending alludes to her meeting Peter.
If you are expecting magic and childhood innocence, this is not it. Still a good book.
This story is about Wendy Darling, before Peter Pan and Never Never Land.
Wendy is a young tween who is becoming aware of the socioeconomic position her family is in. This story deals with growth, first love, and the loss of innocence.
The ending alludes to her meeting Peter.
If you are expecting magic and childhood innocence, this is not it. Still a good book.
January 1, 2024
I am not sure what I just read. I found no relation to anything Peter Pan except the names and the last line of the book. Which was severely disappointing because of it has more of a plot as the last line intended I think it actually would have been a great retelling of a true Peter Pan. The child abuse, cruelty and overall ominous tone was too much for me for the whole book. And all this with a 9 year old. I finished and it didn’t drag which is the only positive i can give it
August 1, 2020
The only "fairytale/Peter Pan" aspect of this book was that all of the characters' flaws and problems magically disappeared at the end. It also showed kids that if you never speak up or talk through your sadness or depression, you'll just end up happy in the end. Yeah, right.
Read
July 25, 2017Hmmm... This book kinda took away what made Peter Pan great. Replaced magic with drama and adult problems. :'P
November 18, 2017
Very dark story. No resemblence whatsoever with Peter Pan. Easy read because of the lay-out and space between the sentences.
A book with a nasty after taste
A book with a nasty after taste
July 12, 2018
This was a wonderful story!!
January 27, 2021
This book will forever change your view of Peter Pan. For the worse. If you love Neverland, dont read this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews