Hook's Tale

May 22, 2017
In Pielmeier’s rollicking version of a familiar story, Peter Pan is a far cry from J.M. Barrie’s charming hero. The hero in this iteration is Hook, otherwise known as James Cook, descendant of the famous captain of the same name. Pielmeier claims to have found Hook’s memoirs, in which he recounts losing his beloved mother, getting kicked out of Eton, and being press-ganged at age 14 onto a ship heading to the Caribbean. In possession of a treasure map that has something to do with his absent father, also a ship’s captain, Cook and his crew mutiny and go in search of fortune, ending up in the vicinity of the time-bent realm of Never-Isle. Here Cook encounters Peter, a lonely, self-absorbed boy who has ceased to age. Cook, too, stops growing older for a time. In his adventures on Never-Isle, he saves the life of the princess Tiger Lily, who then chooses him to be her husband, much to the chagrin of Tinkerbell, who also loves him. In this version, Cook doesn’t fear the crocodile who ticks; rather he has raised and cared for the creature who swallowed his father’s pocket watch, naming it after his mother, Daisy. When Peter betrays Cook and Tiger Lily, Cook sets out to discover his own identity back in the land of the living. What he finds, including who the Darlings (from the canonical story) really are, and how he ends up with a hook for a hand, satisfyingly upend all the familiar elements of Barrie’s children’s story. A splendid yarn.

June 1, 2017
In his playful first novel, playwright Pielmeier (best known for Agnes of God, 1979) allows Peter Pan's Captain Hook a chance to tell the story from his point of view.It's not that of J.M. Barrie, that "sad little Scotsman," as Hook (nee James Cook) refers to him. This James is something of a lost boy himself, sent away to be bullied at Eton, orphaned early, and shanghaied onto a British ship that gets lost in a temporal loop somewhere in midocean. There he meets the rotund Smee and the other future pirates he'll command after a trip to England sends him spinning into the future. But not before he finds his way, accompanied by his beloved pet crocodile, Daisy, into the real "Never-Isle," which is populated by mermaids with "whiskers. Of the walrus variety" as well as an erratic Peter Pan, whose memory stretches back only as far as yesterday and whose "Darker Nature" makes him inclined to sprinkle unsuspecting comrades with fake fairy dust for the pleasure of watching them fall off cliffs. Hook's long months at sea grow tedious for the reader, but Pielmeier's revisionist version of the Enchanted Isles is vividly sensuous, and the novel offers the particular pleasure of explaining the key points of the original in new ways. Cameo appearances by Sherlock Holmes and possibly the real Jack the Ripper, as well as various characters from Treasure Island, the world of which oddly intersects with that of Hook and his comrades, add texture to the tale. While the author's meditations on the costs and benefits of mortality don't break any new ground and some of his references are obscure enough that only Victorian scholars will catch them, anyone who would like another trip to Barrie's enchanted world should be pleased with the opportunity the novel offers to see it anew. The author's thorough, affectionate knowledge of both the original book and the historical period grounds this fantasy in rich detail.

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June 1, 2017
Playwright and screenwriter Pielmeier's first novel is a contribution to the growing genre of famous stories retold from the points of view of misunderstood villains. In Captain Hook's version of Peter Pan, Hook's childhood is marked by an absent father, an addicted mother who dies early and orphans him, bullying at school, and kidnapping into forced service on a pirate ship. Landing in Neverland, Hook saves a baby crocodile, befriends Peter Pan, cavorts with mermaids, and becomes engaged to Tiger Lily. It was Peter, Hook argues, that put Tiger Lily in danger, not him. Hook returns to England seeking his family history, long hidden from him, and finds painful answers. The joy of this genre is the complication it brings to dichotomous views of good and evil. Readers are offered new lights in which to see Hook's actions and motives. Yet Pielmeier misses chances to dive deep into this complexity. Even so, readers will enjoy this fun romp and gain appreciation for Hook, who seeks revenge only after he is crossed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)