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Leaving Pimlico
What is it Peter? she said, after a while. I can never get used to this, Alexi. Having you, that is. How did I deserve you? Deserve me? You don't have to do anything to deserve me. I love you. It's as simple as that. I love you for what you are. All you need to do is love me back. You don't earn love, as a payment in return.
Peter Kingsmill's life had run into the sands since the death of his wife. What was a glittering London career had lost its shine. Until, that is, his life is turned upside down by an unexpected collision of events. He inherits the family estate, meets a girl seventeen years his junior and receives an anonymous letter which casts doubt on all the certainties on which he has built his past life.
What follows is a journey of discovery which takes him back in time to war-torn Europe. To a story of betrayal in the secret world of spies and double agents, and ultimately to redemption and a bright new life.
The narrative moves at speed from the dusty plains of pre-war Poland to the frozen winter landscapes of German-occupied Norway and finally to the gentle pastoral of the north Yorkshire hills. It is a story of a search for the pieces that make up a human life; and of the love that binds those pieces together.
...Do you remember the Snow Queen story? I can complete the pattern now. I have everything I need.
Peter Kingsmill's life had run into the sands since the death of his wife. What was a glittering London career had lost its shine. Until, that is, his life is turned upside down by an unexpected collision of events. He inherits the family estate, meets a girl seventeen years his junior and receives an anonymous letter which casts doubt on all the certainties on which he has built his past life.
What follows is a journey of discovery which takes him back in time to war-torn Europe. To a story of betrayal in the secret world of spies and double agents, and ultimately to redemption and a bright new life.
The narrative moves at speed from the dusty plains of pre-war Poland to the frozen winter landscapes of German-occupied Norway and finally to the gentle pastoral of the north Yorkshire hills. It is a story of a search for the pieces that make up a human life; and of the love that binds those pieces together.
...Do you remember the Snow Queen story? I can complete the pattern now. I have everything I need.
345 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 14, 2014
81 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
P.B. North
4 books5 followersPB North was born in Stockton-on-Tees, England. He studied at the University of Cambridge where he received an MA in English. He later went on to take a post graduate degree at Edinburgh University.
He has lived most of his life in Scotland, where he has worked in various roles as a government official, writing many thousands of words for public reports. He is currently based in East Lothian where he lives with his Norwegian wife, his cat and his rescue staffie/dachshund cross. When he is not writing, he tries to grow things, plays golf badly and goes out in his boat.
Girl in the Picture is his second novel, which draws on his time spent in the north of England, as well as exploring a period of British colonial rule in east Africa.
His first novel – Leaving Pimlico – was published earlier last year. It draws on the author's knowledge of Norway and Scandinavia in general, as well as basing itself in his home country of Durham and north Yorkshire.
He has lived most of his life in Scotland, where he has worked in various roles as a government official, writing many thousands of words for public reports. He is currently based in East Lothian where he lives with his Norwegian wife, his cat and his rescue staffie/dachshund cross. When he is not writing, he tries to grow things, plays golf badly and goes out in his boat.
Girl in the Picture is his second novel, which draws on his time spent in the north of England, as well as exploring a period of British colonial rule in east Africa.
His first novel – Leaving Pimlico – was published earlier last year. It draws on the author's knowledge of Norway and Scandinavia in general, as well as basing itself in his home country of Durham and north Yorkshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
October 19, 2019
I ended up really enjoying this book. The introduction drew me in with promises of mystery, action and adventure only for the book to descend into a tame love story with too good to be true characters. But then came section two with tales of war time espionage, mixed motives and divided loyalties and I was hooked again. However, for me there seemed to be too much unnecessary detail about journeys and domestic life which contributed little to the story. I kept thinking, ah! that seems trivial now but I bet it will turn out to be significant later... but it was actually just trivial.
I think the characters could have been given more depth. The main character had an emotionally deprived childhood but was also hugely privileged. Despite discovering that his family had suffered at the hands of someone protected by the establishment he appeared to have no qualms about using his Oxbridge cronies for his own ends. The patronising treatment of paid house staff also seemed a little dated in style. I thought and hoped all this might come back to bite him as the tale appeared to drift towards an inevitable happy ever after conclusion. But does it...?
I think the characters could have been given more depth. The main character had an emotionally deprived childhood but was also hugely privileged. Despite discovering that his family had suffered at the hands of someone protected by the establishment he appeared to have no qualms about using his Oxbridge cronies for his own ends. The patronising treatment of paid house staff also seemed a little dated in style. I thought and hoped all this might come back to bite him as the tale appeared to drift towards an inevitable happy ever after conclusion. But does it...?
May 29, 2018
An Intriguing mystery, and two uplifting love stories
A 5 star read for me because it held me in its thrall to the end. I liked the writer's style which reminded me a little of John Buchan with the main character a true gentleman in the way of Richard Hannay. Also some engaging descriptions of the different settings which made me want to visit them.
A 5 star read for me because it held me in its thrall to the end. I liked the writer's style which reminded me a little of John Buchan with the main character a true gentleman in the way of Richard Hannay. Also some engaging descriptions of the different settings which made me want to visit them.
November 13, 2015
I liked this story with all its years of hardship and death to be let into a world of grace and hope.
March 16, 2018
Leaving Pimlico
Amazing story! I could hardly put it down and I am sure I will be thinking about it for a long time. I was a child during the 2nd World War and grew up on newsreels of the London blitz. I have always been interested in stories about that period but most are usually about the German atrocities. I found this story of England, Sweden and Norway spies fascinating.
Amazing story! I could hardly put it down and I am sure I will be thinking about it for a long time. I was a child during the 2nd World War and grew up on newsreels of the London blitz. I have always been interested in stories about that period but most are usually about the German atrocities. I found this story of England, Sweden and Norway spies fascinating.
July 22, 2017
A beautifully written story
This book was one of the best I've read in a long time. I was drawn in to the story from the very first page. A story of love and war, and hopes and dreams. I was sad sad when it came to an end.
This book was one of the best I've read in a long time. I was drawn in to the story from the very first page. A story of love and war, and hopes and dreams. I was sad sad when it came to an end.
March 16, 2018
Stunning book.
One of those books you don’t want to put down. Historical, romantical, believable, and touching. I loved the story and subplot.
One of those books you don’t want to put down. Historical, romantical, believable, and touching. I loved the story and subplot.
September 10, 2018
could not get engaged with this story....stopped reading it.
October 3, 2019
Most enjoyable
A most enjoyable story with real depth. So different from many of the mysteries and thrillers. I can see me returning to this one again in the future.
A most enjoyable story with real depth. So different from many of the mysteries and thrillers. I can see me returning to this one again in the future.
April 15, 2020
Review
It was good but not great. I have read many historical novels of this era that I liked much better.
It was good but not great. I have read many historical novels of this era that I liked much better.
March 29, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book , infact couln't put it down it was so enthralling with its twists & turns
October 22, 2016
A touching story
Took a tad to hook me but hook me it did. Unexpected turns and twists in a back drop of love lost and love found stretching three generations. Wonderful descriptions of England and Norway , Highly recommended.
Took a tad to hook me but hook me it did. Unexpected turns and twists in a back drop of love lost and love found stretching three generations. Wonderful descriptions of England and Norway , Highly recommended.
July 27, 2019
Read this book last year, Loved it!
July 25, 2019
Really great ideas but had to start skimming after two-thirds.
December 17, 2015
I want to talk about the husband Peter, and his 17 year younger 25 year old wife. The book begins with Peter seeing his psychiatrist, 10 years after the marriage. He sees his 10 year old son as a scrawny mild nuisance, disrupting his solitude. Peter is distant, self absorbed, and hasn't begun to explain the importance of the family war medal on his desk to his son, something very important to who they both are. The wife is not mentioned. By now she is 35 and likely pursuing an exciting career in journalism. She has been enduring Peter's moods and weekly nightmares, now he is 52 , for ten long years. She might be finding him tedious and even more so since he is now out of the "insider's loop" and not nearly so useful as he once was for getting her interview favors from his posh friends. There is another book here, and I want to know why he sees himself in his night mares as the betraying double agent. How does he resolve this? Where is the wife? Is she sliding her business card under a colleague's glass in London? Did her ex from Turkey ever show up to claim his child as they are apt to do? Andrew, Alexi's father, is now 76, still herding 100 sheep? Likely the ten year old would rather be hanging out with grandpa and the border collies, then trying yet again to get dad's attention. And Alex's mother, Angelina, should only be about 55 to 58 , only five to eight years older than Peter. He might be more interested in her...in the long run. And how does Angelina feel about moving to the" repaired from water coming in roof" cottage, babysitting eternally , while Alexi gets her mom's former family kitchen. Alexi, could she even cook? And the endlessly dumping off of the kid. God! But he marries her, the first woman that looks at him, one year after his other disinterested wife's death. Which basically works for both of them, security, for the time being anyway..... . So the fact he is getting help, may lead him to change his life again. His father, a romantic soul , like Peter, I'm sure would have found himself spending all his time in Angelina's kitchen, feeling the love, and taking the remedy .By the way, did the fool sign a prenup? Well I read that darn book in one setting and loved every bit of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2014
Little mistakes can spoil a read, leaving the reader keener to find the next error than progress the story.
And, sad to say, this book has quite a few, some spelling, but mostly context.
It is set quite clearly and irrevocably in the mid 80's, references to Thatcher, Kinnock, and the pending fall of the Berlin Wall making it abundantly clear.
Which makes 'texting' on mobile phones and the common use of laptops connected to the Internet rather unlikely. Then there is the spelling of 'genteel' as 'gentile', made worse, a little, by the context of the story, or should I say 'stories'?
And that is because, in the middle of this book, and central to it, lies a second story.
A civil servant, high ranking and recently widowed meets an attractive young female reporter with whom he forms a relationship. He has recently been left a great deal of money, and with the money a cryptic message about his dead family. As he encourages her in career so she encourages him in his researches into the recent past and how his family was formed and then destroyed during the Second World War, which forms the inner story.
The author never loses an opportunity to describe the 'place' in which the action takes place, be it London, Yorkshire, Norway or Sweden, and glancing at other reviews I can see that some admire this. And often it is well done, but I found myself wishing quite that sometimes a more impressionistic picture had been drawn.
I don't often feel critical of coincidence in novels; I love 'Great Expectations' for example, and from my own experience know that they occur. Now and then. But now and then should not be changed into 'quite often', and I found myself waiting, trying to second-guess if you for the next one.
The main characters are quite well drawn, but many of the minor are more like the ciphers that the chief protagonist has to decode.
However, I did read to the end of the book, which, like its other parts, was satisfying if a little overdrawn - fudge with cream on, if you know I mean.
And, sad to say, this book has quite a few, some spelling, but mostly context.
It is set quite clearly and irrevocably in the mid 80's, references to Thatcher, Kinnock, and the pending fall of the Berlin Wall making it abundantly clear.
Which makes 'texting' on mobile phones and the common use of laptops connected to the Internet rather unlikely. Then there is the spelling of 'genteel' as 'gentile', made worse, a little, by the context of the story, or should I say 'stories'?
And that is because, in the middle of this book, and central to it, lies a second story.
A civil servant, high ranking and recently widowed meets an attractive young female reporter with whom he forms a relationship. He has recently been left a great deal of money, and with the money a cryptic message about his dead family. As he encourages her in career so she encourages him in his researches into the recent past and how his family was formed and then destroyed during the Second World War, which forms the inner story.
The author never loses an opportunity to describe the 'place' in which the action takes place, be it London, Yorkshire, Norway or Sweden, and glancing at other reviews I can see that some admire this. And often it is well done, but I found myself wishing quite that sometimes a more impressionistic picture had been drawn.
I don't often feel critical of coincidence in novels; I love 'Great Expectations' for example, and from my own experience know that they occur. Now and then. But now and then should not be changed into 'quite often', and I found myself waiting, trying to second-guess if you for the next one.
The main characters are quite well drawn, but many of the minor are more like the ciphers that the chief protagonist has to decode.
However, I did read to the end of the book, which, like its other parts, was satisfying if a little overdrawn - fudge with cream on, if you know I mean.
July 25, 2014
This novel continued to surprise me as it moved along.
It is structured in three parts – The Search, Betrayal, and Redemption – and the action moves between present-day Britain and wartime Europe. The tale takes several turns – just when you think the mystery has been resolved you find there’s more to come and it moves along an intersecting path. At one point I was sure I had second-guessed the Author but found I was wrong.
PB North has put in a lot of work to make the elements of the story realistic and believable – the background, the history of wartime Europe, and the several localities and countries in which it is set. Whether it is navigating the geography of the UK countryside, describing a journey through Stockholm, or revealing the tightness of the community of the British Public Service in Whitehall, there’s a confidence in the writing that reveals attention to details of fact.
The narrator/protagonist, a middle-aged man, is a likeable character so we are happy to go with him on his journey, hoping he succeeds in discovering the secret he needs to unravel.
“I wished I had known my father for what he was and my ignorance of the life he had lived filled me with pain,” he thinks; but the search he undertakes reveals there is a lot more to this comment than even he could have dreamed at that time.
The quality of the writing is good, and the production of the book acceptable. Overall this is a memorable story, well worth reading.
It is structured in three parts – The Search, Betrayal, and Redemption – and the action moves between present-day Britain and wartime Europe. The tale takes several turns – just when you think the mystery has been resolved you find there’s more to come and it moves along an intersecting path. At one point I was sure I had second-guessed the Author but found I was wrong.
PB North has put in a lot of work to make the elements of the story realistic and believable – the background, the history of wartime Europe, and the several localities and countries in which it is set. Whether it is navigating the geography of the UK countryside, describing a journey through Stockholm, or revealing the tightness of the community of the British Public Service in Whitehall, there’s a confidence in the writing that reveals attention to details of fact.
The narrator/protagonist, a middle-aged man, is a likeable character so we are happy to go with him on his journey, hoping he succeeds in discovering the secret he needs to unravel.
“I wished I had known my father for what he was and my ignorance of the life he had lived filled me with pain,” he thinks; but the search he undertakes reveals there is a lot more to this comment than even he could have dreamed at that time.
The quality of the writing is good, and the production of the book acceptable. Overall this is a memorable story, well worth reading.
June 28, 2014
While the story was good, there were too many errors in time line and spelling to make this an enjoyable book. I was constantly waiting for another mistake, such as the misspelling of Kraków [spelled Kraców in the book].
The coincidences started piling up and while one or two are permissible, there were too many which took away from any plausibility. Some of the sentences were very awkward and I had to read them several times to understand them.
A good effort but needs editing and certainly more research - laptops and cell phones were not a part of life in 1987 and 1988.
The coincidences started piling up and while one or two are permissible, there were too many which took away from any plausibility. Some of the sentences were very awkward and I had to read them several times to understand them.
A good effort but needs editing and certainly more research - laptops and cell phones were not a part of life in 1987 and 1988.
February 7, 2017
Couldn't stop reading this
At first,the title made no sense to me. The farther I read,the harder it was to put down. I enjoyed this book tremendously. P.B. North is a captivating writer. Anything that is about the WWII is interesting to me. Fact or fiction, their way of life makes me wonder about what could become of us now.
At first,the title made no sense to me. The farther I read,the harder it was to put down. I enjoyed this book tremendously. P.B. North is a captivating writer. Anything that is about the WWII is interesting to me. Fact or fiction, their way of life makes me wonder about what could become of us now.
April 1, 2015
Leaving Pimlico
For a first book, P. B. North has created a truly engaging tale of a wartime romance, which has a lifetime of experiences. His character development is extremely well defined, and the story line is utterly captivating! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book and look forward to subsequent volumes from this very talented writer.
For a first book, P. B. North has created a truly engaging tale of a wartime romance, which has a lifetime of experiences. His character development is extremely well defined, and the story line is utterly captivating! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book and look forward to subsequent volumes from this very talented writer.
April 9, 2016
Righting a wrong
A great story well written about treachery, betrayal, and love. A traitorous spy betrays a naive girl and her German lover during WWII. Vindication comes for the couple years later when their son learns their story and rights the wrong done to them. This book makes a very good read.
A great story well written about treachery, betrayal, and love. A traitorous spy betrays a naive girl and her German lover during WWII. Vindication comes for the couple years later when their son learns their story and rights the wrong done to them. This book makes a very good read.
April 22, 2022
Pimlico isn't even the focus. This needs editing and polish. We have pages and pages on directions on how to get to Yorkshire from London. A silly love story, wwii Spies, lost relatives, dead relatives, unhappy childhood. I liked the wwii spy story and i wish that had been woven in the story better.
July 18, 2014
What a book. Me, Mr Macho teared up near the end.
What a book. Me, Mr Macho teared up near the end.
what story line. never a dull moment, and very hard to put down. a must read for everyone who read Nazi err books. omg
What a book. Me, Mr Macho teared up near the end.
what story line. never a dull moment, and very hard to put down. a must read for everyone who read Nazi err books. omg
August 5, 2014
Touching story
Touching story
one of my favorite genres is WW II fiction. This is romance, mystery and historical fiction in one package. It also says a great deal about finding your own place in the world.
Touching story
one of my favorite genres is WW II fiction. This is romance, mystery and historical fiction in one package. It also says a great deal about finding your own place in the world.
October 9, 2014
Sad but humbling account of what war really does to peoples' lives.
Enjoy reading about history, but is still sad what happens to people and can never be changed. Everyone has to go on after and deal with what war leaves behind.
Enjoy reading about history, but is still sad what happens to people and can never be changed. Everyone has to go on after and deal with what war leaves behind.
December 22, 2014
It was very well received. Just when you thought it was about to end there was another twist to the story. I am very interested in reading other books by P B North
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in war novels during the Nazis regime. It felt like I was there.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in war novels during the Nazis regime. It felt like I was there.
July 21, 2015
Love in the time of war.
Well written and plotted. I found the Norwegian connection interesting. The characters were sympathetic and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the 40s and the 80s.
Well written and plotted. I found the Norwegian connection interesting. The characters were sympathetic and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the 40s and the 80s.
July 24, 2015
A beautiful story
I loved this book. The background of the impending and then actual world war 2 story within a story was well written and he'd my interest. I also loved his book "The Girl in the Picture".
I loved this book. The background of the impending and then actual world war 2 story within a story was well written and he'd my interest. I also loved his book "The Girl in the Picture".
November 6, 2015
Interesting story, a bit weighed down with unneeded prose
This is a good story and the characters well-drawn. The storyline is of true interest but the writing is a bit dragged own with descriptions of the protagonist's luck in love and acquisition of wealth.
This is a good story and the characters well-drawn. The storyline is of true interest but the writing is a bit dragged own with descriptions of the protagonist's luck in love and acquisition of wealth.
January 30, 2015
I enjoyed the characters and the story. Plan to read more by this author.
June 8, 2015
Excellent! Wonderful story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews