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Approaching Neverland: A Memoir of Epic Tragedy & Happily Ever After

Peggy Kennedy
iUniverse (2009)
ISBN 9781440126130
Reviewed by Tish Obal for Rebecca's Reads (06/09)


“Approaching Neverland: A Memoir of Epic Tragedy & Happily Ever After” by Peggy Kennedy promises to deliver a haunting portrayal of the author’s traumatic childhood. The book was supposed to tell the tale of a family tragedy, her mother’s mental Illness and how it affected the family.

The book is set in the mid-sixties to early nineties in California. Mental illness, in the early dates, was a greatly misunderstood disease. There were no proper medications as there are today. They used shock therapy and drugs that would never see the light of day in our times. The author’s mother, Barbara, and her father, Jack, appear to have differing levels of mental illness, with Peggy having the greater problem.  Barbara had to be institutionalized a few times during Peggy’s childhood. Since the children were not allowed into the hospital, it was a huge strain on them and Jack.

I believe that the author could have fleshed out the trauma of the hospitalizations better. At times it actually sounded that they were better off without the mother being there. In the good times, when Barbara took her medications properly, the story sounds like any other home in Calfifornia during the 60’s.

The author’s siblings play a huge role in her life, but you get the sense of out-of-sight, out-of-mind with this family until there is an emergency. Then it is all hands on deck. Peggy, being the youngest, spends more time with her parents than the others who have all moved away. The author tells of her very close and seemingly normal relationship with her mother.

Yes, this family has a number of tragedies amongst the siblings but this book does not feel as a tragedy occurred. There have been spates of memoirs lately about children brought up in difficult situations with odd sometimes mentally ill parents. “Approaching Neverland: A Memoir of Epic Tragedy & Happily Ever After” does not hold up against the better ones published.

Others may see the book differently. This is an adult book for adult readers who like this type of memoir. I think if the story was beefed up a little and did not have so much time passing between the dated chapters, it would be a better read.

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