When James Matthew Barrie died, in 1937, his funeral was an occasion for national mourning. Crowds gathered; reporters and newsreel men came to record the day, and many well-known figures followed the coffin to its resting place in the little churchyard up on the hill. In London, a month later at St Pauls Cathedral a memorial service was held for the Scottish weavers son who died Britains playwright extraordinaire. A succession of novels and long-running plays had brought Barrie enormous wealth, critical acclaim, an hereditary Baronetcy and the Order of Merit. His public following extended to Hollywood where his work was performed by the stars of the silver screen. Unhappily such achievements did little to ameliorate the strains in Barries private life. Hampered by a stigmatising divorce, he was also struck by a series of tragic bereavements from which he never fully recovered. At the same time as savouring his public image, Barrie gave no more than a handful of interviews. During his lifetime this inscrutable, enigmatic man succeeded in his desire to remain only partially known. Barrie was already famous for sophisticated political satires and social comedies when, with the creation of Peter Pan, his immense artistic gift was displayed at its extraordinary best. In the play, where All children except one grow up, Barrie had touched on a universal nerve, the problem of growing up. With Peter Pan he created one of the greatest twentieth-century myths and a work of art quite unlike anything that had gone before. It became a part of the common culture of the Western world, and is as relevant today as on that first performance one hundred years ago.
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From the Publisher
A fascinating and brilliantly revealing biography of the man who created Peter Pan.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
‘I have been longing for a book to get to grips with Barrie’s unquiet genius, and this is it. Hide-and-Seek with Angels has the richness, sympathy and depth of a great novel… Splendidly lucid. The archetypal Lost Boy has been found at long last’ Roger Lewis, Sunday Express
‘[A] wonderful new biography… [Chaney] places Barrie very much in his time, and is always good on his relations with other writers, and with the contemporary world of journalism and theatre… Fascinating insights and answers’ A.N. Wilson, Evening Standard
‘Lisa Chaney, in her excellent new biography, gives Barrie credit for an intelligence and subtlety others have not noticed. He was a phenomenon, and lived a phenomenal life, coming from an impoverished Scottish home to become world-famous, hugely rich and uninhibitedly productive… Chaney is very good on Barrie’s writing in general’ A.S. Byatt, New Statesman
‘Barrie’s life is startling, quite apart from the wealth and fame. He is a biographer’s dream, indeed, and Lisa Chaney does well by this strange man’ Penelope Lively, Independent
‘Absorbing… Chaney achieves two essential aims of such a biography – throwing intelligent… light on Barrie’s complex character and demonstrating its effect on his output… She comes into her own when describing his dealings with his wilful mother… She makes a powerful plea for the imaginative writer over the psychologist as ‘the natural historian of love’. In the process, she forces us to take Peter Pan seriously’ Sunday Times
‘[Chaney’s] book has much to recommend it. Barrie’s self-transformation from son of a Scottish weaver into wealthy literary man of London is neatly set against Britain’s 19th-century transformation into an industrial urban society. His ambition and force of personality are well conveyed… [Barrie] emerges, vividly and fully formed’ Financial Times
‘A thorough, sympathetic account… [Chaney] is especially good on Barrie’s ambivalence towards fantasy – and the life as a whole is admirably readable’ Sunday Telegraph --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
‘[A] wonderful new biography… [Chaney] places Barrie very much in his time, and is always good on his relations with other writers, and with the contemporary world of journalism and theatre… Fascinating insights and answers’ A.N. Wilson, Evening Standard
‘Lisa Chaney, in her excellent new biography, gives Barrie credit for an intelligence and subtlety others have not noticed. He was a phenomenon, and lived a phenomenal life, coming from an impoverished Scottish home to become world-famous, hugely rich and uninhibitedly productive… Chaney is very good on Barrie’s writing in general’ A.S. Byatt, New Statesman
‘Barrie’s life is startling, quite apart from the wealth and fame. He is a biographer’s dream, indeed, and Lisa Chaney does well by this strange man’ Penelope Lively, Independent
‘Absorbing… Chaney achieves two essential aims of such a biography – throwing intelligent… light on Barrie’s complex character and demonstrating its effect on his output… She comes into her own when describing his dealings with his wilful mother… She makes a powerful plea for the imaginative writer over the psychologist as ‘the natural historian of love’. In the process, she forces us to take Peter Pan seriously’ Sunday Times
‘[Chaney’s] book has much to recommend it. Barrie’s self-transformation from son of a Scottish weaver into wealthy literary man of London is neatly set against Britain’s 19th-century transformation into an industrial urban society. His ambition and force of personality are well conveyed… [Barrie] emerges, vividly and fully formed’ Financial Times
‘A thorough, sympathetic account… [Chaney] is especially good on Barrie’s ambivalence towards fantasy – and the life as a whole is admirably readable’ Sunday Telegraph --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By Yorkbear
Format:Hardcover
A really rich and informative read. This is a thoroughly-researched and beautifully paced exploration of the curious life and work of a fascinating and hugely under-rated writer. The chapters on Peter Pan, and the explorations of the sinister, shockingly modern aspects of time, escape, fantasy and transformation in this and other plays (most obviously The Admirable Crichton and Mary Rose), are especially stimulating. It is a really useful and necessary book which manages to deal with emotionally charged and occasionally tragic material without stooping to amateur psychology or prurience. Barrie is not an easy man to like, but Lisa Chaney has persuaded me at least to understand his weaknesses and to respect him. And I have begun to seek out his work anew. It is the right moment for a new biography, and this one certainly does the job handsomely.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By devonmaid11
Format:Paperback
This is a fascinating biography of a complex, difficult, extremely talented man.The death of his adored older brother at a very young age, seems to have driven Barrie to strive for success,in order to compensate his parents, particularly his Mother, for the loss of her favourite son.He became a successful journalist, then a highly regarded playwright in Edwardian London. He tended to fall in love with his leading ladies, and married Mary Ansell, a popular actress, who appeared in many of his productions.
I knew that Barrie had married a beautiful actress, and that they had divorced in painful circumstances, that there were perhaps sexual problems in the marriage.
Lisa Chaney's theories on Barrie's psychological problems regarding physical relationships, was a fascinating insight on this aspect of his life.
Barrie's later relationship with the Llewelyn-Davies family which ultimately led to the writing of his masterpiece
Peter Pan is also beautifully explored.
I knew that Barrie had married a beautiful actress, and that they had divorced in painful circumstances, that there were perhaps sexual problems in the marriage.
Lisa Chaney's theories on Barrie's psychological problems regarding physical relationships, was a fascinating insight on this aspect of his life.
Barrie's later relationship with the Llewelyn-Davies family which ultimately led to the writing of his masterpiece
Peter Pan is also beautifully explored.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was ordered for my wife so all I can say is that the service associated with this order was first class. Thank You.
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