The Adventures of Mary Darling

(Paperback)

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Who is Mary Darling In this smartly subversive Victorian mash-up starring legendary literary characters Peter Pan's Mary Darling and Sherlock Holmes the mother of the Darling children is on the case despite the meddling of both her inept husband and a clueless Sherlock.

Mary Darling is a pretty wife whose boring husband is befuddled by her independent ways. But one fateful night, Mary becomes the distraught mother whose three children have gone missing from their beds. After her well-meaning uncle John Watson contacts the greatest detective of his era (but not that great), Mary is Sherlock Holmes's prime suspect in her children's disappearance.

To save her family, Mary must escape an attempt to have her locked away as mad, and to travel halfway around the world. Along the way, her allies include a Solomon Islander whose village was destroyed by Western civilisation; a Malagasy woman on an island that is run by women; Captain Hook and the crew of the Jolly Roger; and of course, Nana, the faithful dog and nursemaid.

This adventurous and witty novel will appeal to fans of classic Victorian tales, as well as those who are looking for a new take on the British Empire.

'Pat Murphy reveals powerful characters who've had to hide in plain sight while saving their world. The result is a rip-roaring tale of magic and mystery.' Andrea Hairston, author of Archangels of Funk

Reviews

"Pat Murphy illuminates the heroes we think we know and the stories we're ready to swallow whole. She reveals powerful characters who've had to hide in plain sight while saving their world. The result is a rip-roaring tale of magic and mystery."
--Andrea Hairston, author of Archangels of Funk

"Pat Murphy rips off the cloak of 19th-century patriarchy that makes Peter Pan a difficult read in the 21st-century, and reveals the realities that the past held for feisty women, lusty pirates, and indigenous people living under the governance of the British Empire. If you think you have outgrown Neverland, maybe you have. But you don't have to believe in Tinkerbelle to love this book."
--Eileen Gunn, author of Stable Strategies and Others

"A dashing adventure featuring a swashbuckling heroine, a fascinating exploration of the voices we never get to hear in JM Barrie's version of the Peter Pan story, and a wicked take-down of the Sherlock Holmes mystique. Murphy does a masterful job of subverting Victorian tropes while delivering all the fairies, mermaids, and pirates anyone could desire."
--Susan Palwick, author of The Fate of Mice

"A delightful mashup of familiar tales, written by an expert for the reader who hungers for something old, something new, justice borrowed and logical glue."
--Meg Elison, author of Number One Fan

"This twisty tale full of mystery and fairy magic, grand adventure, and deft character revelations, challenges our societal expectations, and causes us to reconsider what it means to be strong. A wonderfully fun and deeply relevant novel."
--Josh Rountree, author of The Legend of Charlie Fish

Praise for Pat Murphy

"Murphy's [blend] of fantasy and reality honorably recalls the novels of Margaret Atwood."
--Publishers Weekly

"Murphy manages to instill a real sense of wonder into her consideration of the many ways in which we consider both the reality of our world and the nature of fiction itself."
--Strange Horizons

"Evokes a haunting vision of life after society's collapse, as art becomes magic and combines with the power of love to defeat the engines of war. Highly recommended."
--Library Journal

"A lovely and literate exploration of the dark moment where myth and science meet."
--Samuel R. Delany

"Murphy's convincing modern setting is a marvelous foil for her frighteningly alien Mayan ghost, and the archaeological material, besides being fascinating in its own right, is put to excellent use in the plot."
--Newsday

Author Bio

Pat Murphy is an acclaimed author of science fiction, fantasy, and science books for adults, teens, and children. She has received the Nebula Award for The Falling Woman, the Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial, and Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine Readers Awards for Rachel in Love, the World Fantasy Award for Bones, and the Christopher Award for The Wild Girls. Murphy has worked as a writer at a variety of idiosyncratic institutions, including the Exploratorium science museum and Klutz Press (the Complete Klutz series). She was the Activity Guru for the ed-tech startup Mystery Science and the Marketing Director for the Crucible, a school of fire arts. Murphy currently works full time as a science fiction and fantasy author in Boulder City, Nevada, in the Mojave Desert, where she is frequently visited by rabbits, quail, and the occasional coyote.