J.M. Barrie Books In Order

Publication Order of Peter Pan Books

Publication Order of Sentimental Tommy Books

Publication Order of Thrums Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

The well known novelist and playwright, Sir James Matthew Barrie, created the Peter Pan character, which is known all around the world. J.M. Barrie was born on May 9th 1860 in Scotland, in Kirriemuir, Angus to be precise. He was raised in a conservative Calvinist family with ten children. Two of his sibling died before he was even born, so he never got to knew them. He was known for storytelling and interesting short figure. He started schooling to become a professional at his early age and so were his siblings.

Barrie new right away that he would like to become an author, therefore at the age of 8, he started his education a The Glasgow academy, where he was staying with his older brother Alexander and sister Mary Ann, teachers at the school. He continued his education at the Forfar Academy at the age of 10 and later at the age of 14, he enrolled at Dumfries Academy with the help of Alexander and Mary Ann. At Dumfries Academy Barrie found his passion for books and spent a lot of his time playing pirates with his friends, which helped to create a drama club and inspired the Peter Pan book. In this drama club he produced his first controversial play Bandalero the Bandit.

The Peter Pan book was also inspired by the death of his older brother David, when Barrie was 6 years old, in an ice-skating accident. Barrie tried to comfort his beloved mother by trying to look and act like his brother. At the end they both found comfort in reading books and telling short stories to each other. Peter Pan or »the boy who wouldn’t grow up« is a small part of the authors childhood and describes a character that will remain a boy forever as his brother David never will and will never leave them. After he finished schooling at the Dumfries Academy, his family wanted him to pursue a profession as the ministry, but with the help of his brother Alexander, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh at the end with a degree in literature.

He started his carer at the university with writing drama reviews and continued his work in The Scotsman and the Nottingham Journal as a journalist. He started to write his mothers childhood stories and became recognizable with the help of the editor at a newspaper in London, called St. James’s Gazzete. With the help of these stories he later wrote a few of his first novels, titled Auld Licht Idylls in 1888, A window in Thrums in 1890 an The Little Minister in 1891. These books made Barrie a well known and successful writer although the critics on these books were not encouraging and his next book called Better dead failed to increase interest among his readers.

After writing a two other novels about a character named Tommy, Barrie switched from writing novels to writing theater plays and parodies. In 1892 Barrie was introduced to a great actress Mary Ansell who played a role in his play Walker, London. They became friends at first and than fell in love with each other when she was helping Barrie get through his illness in 1983. They got married in 1894, but they didn’t have any children. In 1908 Barrie and Mary Ansell went through a painful divorce because of Mary’s infidelity. The divorce was very hard for Barrie and he couldn’t avoid the scandal around it. Mary Ansell and Barrie could not agree to resolve their issues quietly.

He found his place in a Llewelyn Davies family in 1897 and cared for their five sons as if they were his own. The mother of the boys Sylvia and Barrie were getting along very well and spend a lot of time together despite that they were both married at the time. The family made a big impression on Barrie and he was very fond of the five boys. He was entertaining the boys with his stories and taking care of the family when their father died. After the death of their mother, Barrie adopted the boys unofficially. The Peter Pan book was originally a simple story, which he came up with just to entertain the two boys from the family, George and Jack. The famous character Peter Pan was first mentioned is his book called The Little White Bird in 1902. Barrie’s love for the children was incredible and he created so many friendships with them that at some point it was even speculated that he might be a paedophile.

The Peter Pan play was performed on stage in London and became a great success immediately and was followed by the play Peter and Wendy. The story is about a young boy who never grew up and his flying adventures with his friends in a place called Neverland. The play was later turned in various different movies in addition to a movie about his life, The Boy James premiered in 2012.

After taking the glory of the Peter Pan play, Barrie turned his writing to plays for adult audience. He wrote two plays with a bit darker content, both telling a story about an unhappy marriage and infidelity. The Twelve-Pound Look in 1910 and Half an Hour in 1913 where the main character, a woman, decides to leave her husband. In 1913, Barrie was also made a baronet by George V.

J.M.Barrie died on June 19th 1937of pneumonia, leaving a wide literal heritage behind. Before he died, he left the rights to Peter Pan books and plays to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, which still benefits from his Peter Pan work. His birthplace is known today as a museum and he is resting at Kirriemuir Cementery in Angus, Scotland, next to his parents and two siblings.

Even though Barrie wrote a lot of well known and famous novels and plays, he is and always be know especially for The Peter Pan, or Th Boy Who Wouldn’t grow up. The play was transformed to a Disney animated movie after his death and still amuses lots of young children around the world. Sir James Matthew Barrie was an extraordinary author of novels and plays, with a very hard personal life. His plays are based on real events in his life as a child and as an adult.