The Adventures of Mary Darling

by Pat Murphy

Overview

Who is Mary Darling? In this smartly subversive Victorian mash-up of the legendary literary novels Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, the intrepid mother of the Darling children is on the case—and always one step ahead of her inept husband and a very famous sleuth.

[STARRED REVIEW] “The wit, wisdom, and whimsy on offer here are sure to win fans.”
—Publishers Weekly

[STARRED REVIEW] “Mary’s story is a dangerous and delightful adventure that turns the bigotry and misogyny of Victorian England on its head.”
—Library Journal

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 civilization; 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 witty and adventurous new novel from Pat Murphy (The City Not Long After) will delight fans of classic Victorian tales, as well as those who are looking for a radical new take on the British Empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616964382
Publisher:	Tachyon Publications
Publication date:	05/06/2025
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal Sci-Fi/Fantasy Pick of the Month
Book Riot 12 Marvelous New SFF Books Out in May 2025

[STARRED REVIEW] “Nebula Award winner Murphy (The Falling Woman) riffs on both Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes in this delicious romp purported to be written by Jane Darling, granddaughter of the eponymous Mary, as a corrective to J.M. Barrie’s ‘shameful’ misrepresentation of events. When, in 1900, the Darling children vanish from their bedroom, their canine nursemaid, Nana, fetches parents Mary and George from a dinner party. For assistance, George calls in Mary’s uncle John Watson and his employer, the Great Detective Holmes, who takes the case—and eyes Mary as the prime suspect. Meanwhile, secretive Mary, who is aware of the existence of Peter Pan and hostile to Holmes’s intellectual snobbery, broods on how she can rescue her children. Drawing from her own past misadventures, during which she would often masquerade as a boy because Victorian sensibilities decreed too much “brain work” caused women to go insane, she springs into action. Though her husband proves unhelpful, and Holmes attempts to thwart her every move, Mary finds an ally in Sam, a Solomon Islander and former pirate, and together they make their way to a grim Neverland to face down a spoiled and near-feral Peter Pan. Murphy cleverly reworks favorite Victorian stories into something delightfully new. The wit, wisdom, and whimsy on offer here are sure to win fans.” —Publishers Weekly

[STARRED REVIEW] “Everyone thinks they know the stories of supposed heroes Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, but Mary Darling knows them better than most, because once upon a time she and her brother were the children Peter enticed with promises of adventure that turned out to be feckless and reckless for everyone but him. Intelligent, practical, even piratical, Mary made a plan to escape and did. Now, Peter has enchanted her children with the same promises, and Mary plans a journey back to Neverland to stage yet another daring escape. But Mary’s well-planned trip is followed by well-meaning, meddling men who are certain she needs their help: her husband George, her uncle John Watson, and Watson’s famous friend Sherlock Holmes. VERDICT Mary’s story is a dangerous and delightful adventure that turns the bigotry and misogyny of Victorian England on its head as she takes charge of her own life and rescues everyone with the help of her friends. Murphy’s (Women Up to No Good) latest is highly recommended for readers caught up in the recent trend of feminist retellings of well-known tales.” —Library Journal, SFF Pick of the Month

“Put the beloved characters of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes into the blender of Pat Murphy’s prodigious imagination and you have a book that upends, complicates, situates, and explicates the stories we have always known. Full of surprises and deeply satisfying.” —Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth

“A rip-roaring tale of magic and mystery.” —Andrea Hairston, author of Archangels of Funk

“A cracking read, a virtuoso act of gender jiu-jitsu, a Sherlock story like no other, a rough trip to fairyland, and the real, true story of Peter Pan. What a book!” —Cory Doctorow, author of Red Team Blues

“Pages fly as the mystery unfolds and Pat Murphy gives girls and mothers the thrilling adventures they deserve.” —Wendy N. Wagner, author of Girl in the Creek

“Reveals the realities that the past held for feisty women, lusty pirates, and indigenous people living under the governance of the British Empire.” —Eileen Gunn, author of Stable Strategies and Others

“A fresh new take on both Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes that gives new depth and richness to each.” —A. C. Wise, author of Wendy, Darling

“Outstanding characters, a deep understanding of her new fictional world, and clever storytelling.” —Richard Kadrey, author of the Sandman Slim series

“Award-winning sf/fantasy legend Murphy turns to Victoriana and legends... This fantastical romp features pirates and fairies and adventure, explores the ill effects of gender roles and colonialism, and is a lot of fun.” —Booklist

“Pat Murphy has written a page-turner that is both a rousing adventure and an insightful critique of Victorian literary tropes.” —Theodora Goss, author of the Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club trilogy

“There’s something of a balancing act involved in contrasting materialistic and magical worldviews, and even more in contrasting the exuberance of classic adventure tales with the grim underlying reality of British class divisions and colonialism, but Murphy brings it off admirably. The Adventures of Mary Darling is terrific fun, but it’s fun with some pretty sharp edges.” —Locus

“A gem of a novel. I haven’t had this much reading fun in ages. A literary mashup that thrilled and tickled me to no end. More please.”—Joe R. Lansdale, author of The Thicket

“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

“A wild ride full of pirates and adventures that will keep you reading straight on till morning!” —Ellen Klages, author of Wicked Wonders

“Full of mystery and fairy magic, grand adventure, and deft character revelations.” —Josh Rountree, author of The Legend of Charlie Fish

“A cracking girls’ own adventure with literary criticism and social history sprinkled like fairy dust to make it soar.”
—Almost Wisdom Reviews

“Wonderfully well-written, it’s perfectly paced, we meet a mix of familiar and new characters, and (particularly important when some of your characters can fly), it, cough, sticks the landing perfectly.”
—File 770

From the Publisher