Clown Doctor for Sick Children (Pip - Freya North)

Member Name: luckyarchers

Product:	Pip - Freya North
Date:	10/04/09 (623 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Learning about clown doctors making sick children happy.

Disadvantages: 'Romantic' side of this plot didn't appeal to me.

Most books that I read for entertainment are historical fiction, but I also especially like two authors from the chick lit genre (Sophie Kinsella and Marian Keyes) for when I fancy a light humorous read.

I borrowed this book because Amazon's computer, that analyses my ratings of previous books I have read, suggested that I try this author. Although I have sometimes found their computer results helpful, I was disappointed with this suggestion. I have found that reading book reviews on Dooyoo by reviewers that I have learnt think similarly to me, is a more reliable way of finding fiction that I might enjoy.


* * * What I Didn't Like * * *

During the first part of the book I found the thirty-year-old Pip's character irritating. She says she doesn't need a man in her life, and then goes from celibacy into 'sleeping' with three different men looking for perfect sex. However, further into the book, the author gives us a reason from Pip's past for her acting like this, which made me more sympathetic to the character.

I suppose the author may have felt a need to describe the sex scenes more graphically than any other chick lit book I have read, to show the difference between 'good' and 'not so good' sex. Either that or she thought her readers would enjoy crude sex scenes, in which case I think there should have been a reference to this in the summary on the back cover of the book. I didn't realise the implications of the question posed there. "What can a clown and accountant possibly have in common?"

I notice now looking inside the cover that this book is endorsed by Cosmopolitan. Regular readers of this magazine may well enjoy some parts of this book more than I did.

My favourite chick lit author is Sophie Kinsella, who I would expect British fans of this genre to have experienced, at least once. If not then I suggest you give her a try. Pip is more sexually explicit than her books, and also those of Marian Keyes and Jill Mansell that I have read so far.

In considering the answer to, "What can a clown and accountant possibly have in common?" the author also goes on at some length about colour scheming and other aspects of interior design. I don't place the same sort of importance to this as she does, so this didn't interest me either.

This is the sixth book in a series that Freya North has had published. If, unlike me, you intend to read earlier ones, it may be desirable to read them in order. Each of the earlier books has the name of the main character as their title, but I saw no disadvantage in reading this book without reading the earlier ones.

Fen, one of Pip's sisters, works for a magazine called Trust Art. The fact that the author has a Masters Degree in the History of Art probably helped her develop this part of the storyline.

As I found most of the plot weak, telling you about other characters would probably be considered as plot spoiling.


* * * The Best Bit * * *

I must also tell you about the book's most redeeming quality. The author has done her research into clown doctors. They are sponsored by a charity called the Theodora Children's Trust.

As the author lives in London, she watched clown doctors do their ward rounds at Great Ormond Street and Guy's Hospitals. These specialist 'doctors' are there to treat the emotions of their young patients and their relatives. In other words, to make them happier by making them laugh.

I had not heard of this charity before, which started off in Switzerland in 1993, but has now spread to Britian, Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Hong Kong and South Africa. These clown doctors get special training before being allowed to do this job, which can be emotionally demanding, as well as rewarding. You can read more about them at the website of theodora.org. (Click on England, unless you want to read about them in French.) They have been working in the UK since April 1994.

I found the hospital scenes involving Pip sometimes bitter-sweet, and sometimes hilarious, with their slap-stick humour casing smiles or laughter in the least likely of people.

Pip's clowning work also includes activities for healthy children in public places and private parties. She shows a genuine love for children, especially those in any sort of need, including one child who is being bullied.

I would have liked more of the plot to be about her work with children, and less about 'romance.'


* * * Recommendation * * *

Freya North has a lot of female fans, but having read this book, I won't be on the look out for any more of her books. However, I am giving it 3 stars, as this is the minimum I would give to a book that, having started, I thought worth reading to the end.

As I think this is an average chick-lit read, both from the point of view of story line and believability of characters, I could only recommend it to readers who are heavily into this genre, and would like sexually explicit romance interwoven into a plot about an interesting and worthwhile job with children.



Paperback: 364 pages
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New edition edition (29 April 2004)
ISBN-10: 0099278375
ISBN-13: 978-0099278375
RRP: £7.99

Summary: Chick lit fiction about the work and private life of a clown doctor.