Pip Book

Freya North's latest novel, Pip, can only consolidate the reputation she has already established for sharply written, high-energy novels of character, in which her heroines battle against considerable odds to maintain successful careers and relationships. As in such books (similarly bearing their protagonists' names) as Sally,Chloe and Holly, North has created a memorable central character. Thirty-year-old Pip McCabe has been surviving quite nicely (she says) without a man, love or money. But her sisters and her friends disagree: Fen and Cat (the heroines, in fact, of North's last two novels) are trying to inject a little more love and sex into her life. She, however, is something of an obstacle to this plan, with a tendency to wear outrageous clothes and an indifference to her general appearance. Then along comes the 34-year-old Zac Holmes, who is living the life of Riley, enjoying his successful career and looking after his much-loved young son. Freya North's strategy, needless to say, is to keep both these individuals apart--and get them together. She creates canny obstacles in her plotting, and in the process delivers a highly enjoyable read. Against a series of strongly realised urban backdrops, we watch the hero and heroine dance around each other, and utilise language the way an earlier generation used rapiers. This is not Booker Prize material, and doesn't pretend to be. But readers seeking a highly entertaining, exuberant read (with a capricious heroine who charms the reader as much as she infuriates) need look no further. --Barry ForshawRead More