"Pop", by Kitty Aldridge

Novel, 2001

A novel which kicks off with some extraordinarily rich writing, which then flails and flags a little, but ends up delivering a satisfying whole. For the most part, this is an absorbing page turner, though it can feel as if plot points aren't resolved or somehow worked through to the kind of areas they may profitably be pushed into. Details of Midlands pub life are excellently sketched, though possibly distract from the more serious themes of loss and ambition. All in all, a cracking read.