Darling Girl: A Novel of Peter Pan
Holly Darling is beautiful, rich, and descended from the original Wendy Darling. For decades, she and her family have been the toast of London society. The Darling women grow up hoping for Peter Pan to come to their window, dreaming of wild nights and starlit skies, and adventures that will take them far, far away.
But Holly Darling — Wendy’s granddaughter — is different. She has a career she loves, a teenage son she’d do anything for, and a daughter she never mentions who is afflicted with a mysterious condition. She has no time for fairy tales, for boys who never grow up. She has her hands full, and she also keeps a secret:
Once upon a time, Peter Pan really did visit the Darlings. And he’s not exactly as portrayed. DARLING GIRL (May 2022, Dutton)
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“A dark and dazzling tale. Liz Michalski has used her own magic wand to shed light on the lengths we go to in order to preserve the myth of beauty, the myth of youth, and even the myth of fairytales themselves.”
“A captivating question quivers at the center of the engrossing novel, Darling Girl: What if Peter Pan isn’t just a story? While meeting the Peter Pan you never knew, reading Darling Girl is like falling under the enchanting spell of Liz Michalski prose. As with all true magic, there must be both the seductive darkness and the illuminating light: Michalski masterfully gives us both. Darling Girl introduces us to the Darling family decades away from Wendy and Peter, descendants who are grappling with secrets that protect a family mythology and a boy who will never grow up. With a young girl and her fiercely protective mother at the center of a spellbinding story, Darling Girl is powerful and captivating. Neverland and the reader will never be the same again.”
“A dark and elegant look at a story we all know well. Liz Michalski takes Peter Pan where all the old stories go, where magic is never without a cost, and pixie dust might be more powerful than you imagine. Fantastic!”
“A compelling and richly imagined twist on an old story, Liz Michalski’s Darling Girl captured me on page one and hasn’t released me yet. An emotionally gripping demonstration that a mother’s love, when tested, can become a force of nature. I will never look at Neverland and its inhabitants the same way again.”