Peter Ibbetson, by George du Maurier (nostalgic novel, 1891)

[lb_lee]

Our joint life must be revealed--that long, sweet life of make-believe, that has been so much more real than reality.

Blurb: After an idyllic childhood in the suburbs of Paris, the titular Peter Ibbetson finds a way to go back to his childhood in his dreaming life... where he also becomes #1 Wife Guy for his beloved.

Why is it worth your time?: I first heard of this book because it kept coming up in later nonfictional accounts of lucid dreamers and spirit spouses... and with good reason! The first half of the book is focused on Ibbetson's ordinary childhood, but the second half almost entirely takes place in the dreamworld, and it describes a very straightforward lucid dreaming protocol that is still used and advised today. If you're willing to push through a hundred and fifty pages of Parisian childhood, this is a gentle read, and for anyone with an otherordinary spouse or a life they love elsewhere, the book is sure to tug your heart strings! I read this while very sick, and I feel it's a perfect read for that kind of circumstance.

Plural Tags: abuse low-focus (only one or two incidents with the villainous uncle are mentioned, and not dwelled on), bodyhopping, identityblending, otherworld ("dreaming true," or the past), children, copies, dreamfolk, imaginary friends, the dead, romantic and family relationships, voices

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: In the public domain! You can read the text-only version in various formats on Project Gutenberg, but if you can, I HIGHLY recommend you chase down a copy with du Maurier's illustrations, because he was a cartoonist long before he became a writer, and his art gives the book a singular charm. (We lucked into finding a fancy luxury edition secondhand with the illustrations at 100% size, and it's massive but also totally worth the $25 we paid for it.)

Misc. Notes: There was a 1935 movie made of this with Gary Cooper as Peter Ibbetson. It's on archive.org. Haven't seen it, but it's on the to-do list!