REVIEW: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens/Peter and Wendy (J.M. Barrie)

Book: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens/Peter and Wendy

Author: J.M. Barrie.

Premise: In Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, a baby Peter Pan lives a wild and secret life with birds and fairies in the middle of London. He then becames the boy-hero of Neverland in Peter and Wendy, having adventures with Wendy, Captain Hook and the Lost Boys.

[⚠️TW: racial stereotypes of the day, racist language, sexism]

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens gives an account of how Peter Pan came to be. There was a lot of magic in this story, detailing the gardens at night and the fairy inhabitants. It was slow though despite being short.

Peter and Wendy is the story we all know thanks to Disney and it was a fun story. However, I found the racism and gender stereotyping stopped me enjoying the story. I appreciate it was written over 100 years ago and I went into the book expecting outdated opinions, but it was a bit too much for me. I had to skip paragraphs and pages relating to the native tribe because I found it too offensive. I hated how Wendy was being moulded into a housewife and mother despite still being child. There are comments about women throughout and a real vicious hatred towards Mrs Darling that took me by surprise.

Honestly, I would recommend watching the 2003 film over reading the book. Having read the book, the film is actually quite accurate, just less offensive. Disclaimer, I might be biased as that film was my childhood!