An Unusual Take on a Fairy Tale We All Know and Love

August 7, 2025 / August 16, 2025 by Star Cat Books

The Adventures of Mary Darling by Pat Murphy (Tachyon Press, July 2025) is a book that’s near and dear to the hearts of Star Cat Books, not just because the owner (myself, Nancy Hanger) got to work as Pat’s copy editor during her career in mainstream publishing, but because Tachyon Press was kind enough to send us ARCs, one of which was this title, to raffle off to our Bradford, VT, customers. Thank you, Tachyon — we love your books and we’re so grateful for your kindness.

I read Mary Darling in one short evening, so taken was I.

Mary Darling is not the prim & proper young mother society and her neighbors thing she is. Mary Darling, for instance, belongs to a weekly “exercise” session for “umbrellas” (read: sabers) with other women like her.

When she and her husband, George, who fecklessly left their giant protective dog Nanna tied outside while they went to visit the neighbors, something unexpected happened. When they returned to the nursery, the children were gone. And the window was open.

Mary instantly knew what was happening. Calmly, she began to make plans. George, who as previously mentioned, went into feckless, helpless mode. If you haven’t guessed already, George is the comic relief.

But back to Mary. She calls her uncle who, unbeknownst to only but the closest of her friends, is John Watson. Who puts her in touch with, of course, Sherlock Holmes. Mary needs a pirate disguise, some more daggers, already has her little box saved from her own childhood of “Neverland survival equipment” such as fishhooks and the like, and a berth on a pirate ship headed in the vague direction of where Neverland “wanders” (because as we all know, it is hard to find).

Mary Darling is an alumnus of living with Peter Pan. She is not the prim proper Victorian lady: she is one kickass woman.

Wesley the bookstore cat was also enthralled by the book and helped me read it.