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About The Book

Now a major motion picture starring Louis Partridge and Vanessa Redgrave, The Lost Girls is the story of a now grown-up Wendy and her ties to Peter Pan, in a novelized retelling of the original fairy tale.

Imagine a world in which the sole purpose of the women in the Darling family has been to entertain Peter Pan and his lost tribe. That is, until the contemporary Wendy Darling decides that she does not want to succumb to the same fate of the three generations before her. And she does not want to bear a daughter whose destiny is to follow Peter Pan to a suspect fantasyland, become thoroughly smitten, and then go back to a life that is far less remarkable, waiting forever to return. In The Lost Girls, Wendy straddles the line separating the human desire for freedom and security, fantasy and reality in a truly unique take on a classic.

About The Author

Melissa Rallis

LAURIE FOX was raised in Burbank, California, and has been involved in the Los Angeles and San Diego literary communities as a poet and bookseller. For the last ten years, she has worked as a literary agent. She lives with her husband and cat, Chloe, in Berkeley, California

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 1, 2022)
  • Length: 288 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781668009154

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Raves and Reviews

“The conceit of this book is deliciously original, rendered with the tart, modern spin of a fractured fairy tale…. The book’s flirtation with reality vs. story is so much fun.... So can books save our lives? The answer is absolutely. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, happily ever after.” —The Boston Globe

“A daring act of appropriation, Fox casts an unlikely character, a fourth-generation descendant of the original Wendy Darling of Barrie’s classic play and novel as the narrator of a story that is both whimsical and moody…Throughout, Fox plants one foot in the mythical and one in the earthly.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“A wry mixture of Fay Weldon and Alice Hoffman, magical and scary, full of the possibilities and heartbreak of growing up.” —Booklist

“Laurie Fox navigates the borderland of reality and fantasy through imaginative play on the beloved fairy tale ‘Peter Pan’.” —San Jose Mercury News

The Lost Girls is...a poignant and fresh look at issues of mental illness and the life-saving virtues of the imagination...[A] playful and dark take...The quick, charming banter between characters is what makes the book such a joy to read.” —Contra Costa Times

“Fox’s book is the most culturally entrenched of the Peter Pan works, mirroring both the psychological recovery described in women’s memoirs and the themes of fragmentation and healing of mother-daughter relationships popular in cinema. At the same time, the novel provides a smart model for romance fiction, offering us a love story without the tidy pill of romantic consummation.” BITCH Magazine

“Fox takes us on a rollicking flight through the universe of...five women, whose lives have all been forever tweaked by a romance with Pan...And what a Pan he is! Fox releases him from his asexual tights-and-tunic getup, drawing him as a feral presence with skin-tight jeans and bedroom eyes...Fox’s adult-sized novel is full of wildly creative takes on the details of the Barrie myth.” —Vancouver Sun

“Wonderfully inventive. Laurie Fox turns the beloved Peter Pan legend on its head, serving it back to us with a twist of de Beauvoir. Investigating the fine line of fantasy and reality with humor and candor, The Lost Girls begs the question, what happens after our feet are planted abruptly once again on steady ground, after the ‘fine silver dust and glitter’ wears off? A darling of a book.”Tess Uriza Holthe, bestselling author of When the Elephants Dance

The Lost Girls is a magical novel, and Laurie Fox is a truly inventive and imaginative writer. Anyone who’s ever loved the story of Peter Pan will devour this unique and powerful book.”—John Searles, author of Boy Still Missing and Cosmopolitan Book Editor

Laurie Fox is a comic and a poet and her story about love and magic will make you believe in both.” —Lorna Landvik, bestselling author of Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

“I was enthralled by The Lost Girls and am grateful for the whimsical mysticism of Laurie Fox.” —Brett Butler, comedian/actress

“What a wonderful feat – and flight – of literary imagination. Laurie Fox took me back to a time when I too wished I could fly.” —Sheldon Cashdan, author of The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales

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