Peter Pan and the crossdresser

11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Millions of children grew up with Peter Pan, the innocent tale of the little boy who never grew old.

But generations to come will be subjected to an altogether more mature version of the classic tale.

After a wait of more than 100 years, an official sequel to JM Barrie's Peter Pan hit bookshelves in 30 countries around the world.

• Click here if you want to see the full story

But the new version is bound to raise eyebrows as it contains characters such as a High Court judge with a penchant for cross-dressing.

The character in question, Tootles, was a cute young lad in the original tome set in Edwardian England.

In the sequel, set in 1929, Judge Tootles is referred to as 'she' when, on journeys to the fantastic world of Neverland, she magically adorns pretty frocks, 'long yellow plaits and knows ballet positions one to five'.

In the book's final chapters, Tootles is forced to return to a rather humdrum family life. On his return his daughter rather comically complains that 'there is mud on my ballet shoes' and her father's secret is almost out.

Peter Pan in Scarlet has been written by British children's author Geraldine McCaughrean and will be released in 34 languages.

McCaughrean was handpicked to write the sequel from nearly 200 authors around the world after Great Ormond Street Hospital launched a search for a writer in August 2004.

Crossdressing judges aside, the book is much darker and deals with many more adult issues than the first.

The children have grown up - the book being set 20 years on - and Michael one of the originals has been killed in the Great War.

The book has a recurring theme of war, and questions the morality of it.

While Wendy, originally the wide-eyed child storyteller is now a mother and a wife with rather feminist tendancies.

McCaughrean explained she gave Wendy children and a husband after her own life-changing experience of motherhood.

JM Barrie famously had no children, and, as it turned out probably had an unsavoury interest in young boys.

Intriguingly Peter Pan himself has also undergone quite a metamorphosis.

In this first review, Susan Elkin speaks of Pan as a 'plausibly rounded and more complex than his predecessor', calling him a 'stubborn and often quite unpleasant as well as being loveable'.

He has an evil streak now, and on a journey into Neverland in the sequel 'He turns nasty as ship's commander it's shades of Animal Farm and oppressed-turned-oppressor'.

The plot and new characters were a fiercely guarded secret, with a pre-publication embargo being placed on the book.

In August, there was a moment of high drama when the New York Times got hold of a copy and leaked some details, not all of them accurate.

McCaughrean said: "Now I'm quivering like a greyhound, waiting to see what people think of my book when it finally hits the shops."

Great Ormond Street's copyright, bequeathed to it by Barrie in 1929, runs out next year. The royalties for the new book will be split between McCaughrean and the hospital.

David Barrie, J M Barrie's great-great-nephew, said: "J M Barrie could never have guessed that Peter Pan would still be making a vital difference to Great Ormond Street Hospital almost 70 years after his death.

"I'm sure he would be delighted to know that, thanks to Geraldine McCaughrean's sequel, the boy who wouldn't grow up will go on helping children back to health for many years to come."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in