Pippa Passes

by Rumer Godden

Seventeen-year-old Pippa is one of the many dancers in the Corps de Ballet chosen to go on an Italian tour. In Venice, Pippa catches the eye of Nicolo, a young gondolier. With poignancy and perception, Godden makes Pippa's unforseen awakening to a more grown-up, complex world, vividly alive--where innocence can so easily be corrupted and new surroundings and experiences dazzle and contort with their intensity.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Italy

172 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Margaret Rumer Godden was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably Black Narcissus in 1947 and The River in 1951.
A few of her works were co-written with her elder sister, novelist Jon Godden, including Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of the Goddens' childhood in a region of India now part of Bangladesh.

Reviews

[Rosemary Atwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s quite disconcerting to discover a 1994 version of the faithful pastiches that I would labour over by the exercise book dozen (in honour of Lorna Hill and Noel Streatfeild) more than half a century ago. Especially when the author is Rumer Godden.

But I did enjoy the whimsical naivety and adolescent charm of ‘Pippa Passes,’ if only to be reminded that in the ballet world some things just never change.

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A long time ago in my distant youth, I used to enjoy Rumer Godden's books. So it was a great disappointment to read this one, which I had picked up in a secondhand bookshop somewhere. I found it dreadfully twee and pretty unbelievable in terms of a 17 year old new member of a ballet company turning into a star almost overnight. At the same time she's sweeping everyone she meets off their feet with her charm and beauty ... oh, and she's a wonderful singer too. Gosh!

I did manage to read to the end (it's quite a short book mercifully) but feel I'm being generous giving it two stars. In other words, don't bother!

[Jenne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well that was a weird little book. Really, it's almost exactly the same book as A Company of Swans but with bonus Evil Lesbian and approx 63% less charm.

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was clearly a beginning or first effort for this author's writing career.

It's truly quirky. It starts off on a set of mores and within an era for which other parts of it no longer "fit". It's certainly a portrait of Venice itself. But the parts of "crisis" to/for Pippa actually made me laugh. And then it ends up duplicitous in one sense and then rather cynical in another. The ballet does tend to shine but here is a tale for which a title character doesn't grab any consistent depth. Except for her craft.

I love all her latter works. This was an exercise which didn't remain a whole.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abrupt little tale that starts off seeming too old fashioned for its time period and then suddenly turns cynical. The characters are flat and unlikeable. However, it made me want to go to Venice and eat.

[Jane]

“What immediately caught me were the small sketches in the margin, sketches of a water city I had dimly known of but had not visualised. here were domes, towers, pinnacles, arches, stone bridges, small stone-flagged alleyways – it seemed there was not one spacious street; glimpses of canals, big and little with boats, endless boats, barges, many of them long, graceful, elongated craft steered by a man standing on the stern with a single oar; sketches of markets on the canal banks, of a wide lagoon. All far removed from anything I had seen.

I bought that book and read it; even then I recognised how unashamedly sentimental it was – novels were sentimental at the turn of the century and this was a love story – but in spite of that, it’s evocation cast such a spell that it has been with me ever since.”

Many years after she found that book, towards the end of her life, Rumer Godden wrote a book set in Venice. And she created a young heroine who would find the same magic in Venice that she found in the pages of that book, so many years earlier.

Pippa Fane was seventeen years old, and the youngest and newest member of the Company of the Midlands Cities Ballet. And she was travelling abroad on tour for the first time.

The first engagement of the tour was in Venice.

Pippa was captivated. By the city, by the people, by the food … everything!

Life was wonderful!

Rumer Godden captured this beautifully: atmosphere, sights, sounds, palaces, canals, gondolas and such wonderful light. And she so clearly understood the feelings and emotions of her young heroine as she experiences all of this.

And of course there was the dancing.

Angharad, her ballet mistress, took wonderful care of Pippa her and gave her so many wonderful chances.

But sometimes she had to slip away, to meet Roberto. He was a gondolier and an aspiring musician. He introduced her to his family and friends. He took her out. And he invited her to sing with his band.

It sounds perfect, doesn’t it. Maybe too perfect. Both Angharad and Roberto had ulterior motives.

She was looking for sexual favours from her young protegé.

He was looking for a girl to draw attention to his band – and for a little fun.

Pippa didn’t realise what was happening each time until it was too late. She was hurt, but she came to terms with what had happened, and she moved on. A little older and a little wiser.

She was such a likeable heroine, and it was lovely to see her delight in all the wonderful new things she experienced. And Rumer Godden captured her coming of age, her emotional confusion, her discovery that things were much more complex than she had realised, just as beautifully.

But the shift from light to dark was too sudden, or maybe the contrast was too great. The story became a little too explicit, and the simply drawn characters that had worked so well when everything was light and happy worked less well when dark shadows fell.

And so I have to record that this was a lovely book, just not quite as lovely as it might have been.

But it has led me to another book. The book that introduced the young Rumer Godden to the magic of Venice was The City of Beautiful Nonsense by E Temple Thurston, and I have tracked down a copy …

[Mark McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rumer Godden, the author of "Pippa Passes," was a lovely British writer of a generation ago. Author of more than sixty novels, Godden was born in 1907, lived for a time in India, and had a ballet studio before starting her writing career. She died at the age of 90 on November 8, 1998, in England.

Pippa is Pippa Fane, a young dancer in the ballet corps taking her first trip -- to Venice -- with London's Midlands City Ballet. "Pippa Passes" was published in 1994 so Godden must have been in her mid-eighties when it was written; still, she imbues Pippa with the spirit of youth and blithe innocence. The book is a coming-of-age novel, delicately told. Godden specializes in atmosphere, the outer sights and sound of palaces, canals, gondolas and Venetian light, and the inner atmostphere of human feeling.

Pippa is being persued, sexually persued, by Angharad Fullerton, the dance mistress of the company -- and is completely obliviously to that fact. Pippa is also falling in love with a young gondolier who actually is far more interested in exploiting her beautiful singing voice to than he is in Pippa herself.

Nicolo, the gondolier, is seducing Pippa to improve the chance of success with his band which has a upcoming performance at the famous Hotel Imperiale. An American impressario will be in attendance, and this beautiful young American dancer with the pure, clear voice is Nicolo's ticket to success, a success he is sure Pippa will be willing to give up her ballet career for.

No, no, Nicolo! Watching these themes play out is a small, genuine pleasure. "Pippa Passes" is a small gem by a wonderful writer, born in a time when delicacy ruled discourse.

[Nan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A "coming-of-age" book that begins in innocence, only hinting at a darker future, and ends in the complexities of early adulthood, with a timeframe of about a week. It's also a reminder that danger and that which rescues us from danger can be closely related. The author uses a device I'd never noticed before--relating the thoughts of a character and then quoting another in what he/she would've said had the thoughts been spoken aloud. Clever way to let the reader in on things.

[Ruby Hollyberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A minor novel of the author's - she has written many that are deeper and more amazing - but every note is in harmony. A ballerina novel, a coming-of-age novel, and a lovely visit to the Italy dreamers dream of.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rumer Godden is perhaps my favorite author. I found a copy of the first volume of her autobiography A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep on my husband's night table and started reading it again, for perhaps the third time. So naturally when I went to the library to return some books, I looked on the shelf under the Gs and found Pippa Passes, which wonder of wonders, I hadn't read.
Pippa Fane is 16, and the youngest member of the corps de ballet of the Midland Cities Ballet. She is invited to join 19 other ballerinas and 15 male dancers, soloists and principle dancers on a tour of Italy, starting in Venice. She has never traveled, and this is the life she dreams of, a real, paid dancer, seeing the world with a respected ballet company.
To Pippa, Venice is the most beautiful, romantic place in the world, and Godden makes us see it through her eyes. Almost immediately, she meets Nicolo, a handsome gondolier who begins besieging his mother to invite Pippa to their apartment. Nicolo's mother, a woman of traditional views, will not have a "dancing girl" in her house. This is somewhat ironic, because when the adults of the company discover someone is seeing a gondolier, their response is exactly the same. "A gondolier! Oh, no."
Pippa also comes under the sway of Angharad Fullerton, the ballet mistress, who sets her apart from the other members of the corps. Pippa quickly begins a type of double life in Venice. By day, she takes class, rehearses the ballets and appears in the performances. In the stolen hours and half hours between this grueling schedule she meets a Marchesa and her husband, who are Nicolo's unofficial godparents, and the owners of his gondola. She hears about Nicolo's dreams for his band, and meets the band members. She dines with the Marchesa and Marchese at a restaurant on an island near Venice. Life is almost entirely perfect, but....
If you love Venice or think you might, or love ballet, or think you might, this is a little gem of a book.

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointing! I loved In This House of Brede and Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy. And I recently discovered and loved The Story of Holly and Ivy, a children's book by Godden. That compelled me to seek out more works by Godden.

However, this book had a very sensual/erotic feel with hints of muck. I ended up skipping pages and skimming others. I'm glad I did. Along the way, I caught the normalization of casual/premarital sex and hints of homosexuality mixed in with references to the Catholic faith. It was an evocative story, but it didn't create an environment that I wanted to dwell in.

Innocent and young Pippa is plucked from her dance school to enter the chorus their traveling ballet show. There she rises to a soloist and then principal role with astonishing speed. She also engages in an eye-opening love affair with a local gondolier and begins singing with his band to great success.

This romance story culminates with an explicit sexual encounter between Pippa and her gondolier. After which, she realizes that he is opportunistic and frequently sleeps around. His interest in her is anchored by what she can do for him - namely helping his band. So, she leaves him and goes onto the next city with her ballet company a "wiser and more mature" woman while vowing to always love him and the city of Venice. This is hailed as a coming of age story, but seems to be more a story of damage.

[B.B. Shepherd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember my mother saying that Rumer Godden was one of her favorite authors. Mum was a tremendous reader and I think had great taste in books. So it's strange that I've never read a Rumer Godden book, and it seemed about time to rectify that. I wanted to read Black Narcissus, but it wasn't available at my library. So I picked up this book instead.

I got about a quarter in and was very confused. The writing is all over the place, sometimes not making much sense and often two people's dialogue (or thoughts) in one paragraph. Very disjointed, and I don't think by design. Hopefully not. It also reads like a very simple novel written in maybe the 40s or 50s, except that from a few remarks in the text it was obviously written later than that. So I stopped to check the publish date. 1994! There's no way these characters were living in 1994. Any of them.

I still have faith in Mum and will try another Godden. A more tried-and-true one. But honestly, I'd give this a miss even if you're her greatest fan.

[J.F. Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love Rumer Godden's writing and her descriptions of Venice in this were absolutely lovely. However the plot, surrounding a 17 year old ballet dancer on tour for the first time used every cliché - a sudden and meteoric rise from corps-de-ballet to principal, an 'suppressed' lesbian preying on the youngest member of the company, a rich and wise Countessa who provided a convenient palazzo setting and even an amorous gondolier. In the space of two weeks, Pippa suddenly becomes the star of the company, is almost propelled to further stardom as a jazz singer, discovers both religion and sex and realises, eventually, that everyone in the world just wants to use her. (She is also able to afford frequent lunches in Florians on a basic salary!)Written in the 1990s, this has a much earlier feel to it - it could be set in the 1950s. Black Narcissus this is not: I think I'll stick to her earlier work in future!

[Beth Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm. Not a lot to this (less than 200 pages). This is a coming-of-age story for a young ballet dancer who is part of a dance troupe traveling in Venus. Pippa seems to charm all those around her - especially the dance mistress who tries to take advantage of her position of authority. She aids in promoting Pippa at an alarming rate in the hope of a sexual encounter with the young dancer - which ends poorly and throws Pippa into another possible sexual encounter with a gondolier who has charmed (and ultimately disillusions) Pippa. What?? It's not graphic, and pretty tame (and lame). All ends well enough, but not enough of a redeeming factor to recommend this be read. [And I remember being such a fan of this author as a young adult . . . time to revisit??]

[Susannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was underwhelmed. This is a mini-novel about a girl's coming of age while touring with a professional ballet company in Venice. Beyond her excessive talent, the title character didn't endear herself. Two stars, mainly for the descriptions of Venice. I am probably on the side of the folks who wouldn't romanticize the place but would appreciate its historical significance.

I thought the title sounded familiar. When I searched this title, I saw there was a children's book by the same title that I think I read as a youngster.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I was so drawn by the power of this book and the author’s writing that I read it in a couple of hours. It’s an intoxicating story about a 17-year-old ballet dancer who goes to Venice on tour, falls in love with the city and a gondolier whom she meets, is basically nearly raped by her ballet mistress, and watches her career skyrocket in only two weeks. Except that you can tell from the very restrained way the author dealt with the near-rape that this is a British book.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not expecting titillating bedroom scenes (more typical of Harlequin romances) from the author of “In this House of Brede”. Godden is a writer of skill, but this book was a bit of a disappointment.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Godden has once again written a book that stands out for its unusual storyline and presentation. A 17 yo girl on her first ballet tour with minimal supervision ... expect the unexpected.

The corps is performing The Tales of Hoffman.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seventeen-year-old Phillipa, “Pippa”, is a ballet dancer in a British troupe visiting Venice. Über-talented both in dance and voice, Pippa has led the sheltered life of a cloistered and protected performing arts student, so her first trip abroad, and to romantic Venice at that, finds her wide-eyed and naïve. She immediately encounters a handsome young gondolier, and falls deeply in love. He is attracted in turn, but his motivations are slightly different than purely romantic.

In the meantime, Pippa’s ballet mistress has become infatuated with her, leading to much scheming and heartache and culminating in an attempted lesbian rape scene; a bit of a shocker from this particular author, but in retrospect not all that surprising; Rumer Godden was never shy of acknowledging the power of sex and using it as a motivator for her characters over the years; I think that the fairly graphic incident here is merely the well-experienced 87-year-old author "keeping up with the times."

This was Godden’s second to last published novel before her death in 1998, and while not one of her top-rank tales it is certainly competently written and acceptable as a light read. Don’t expect another House of Brede, though! This one is fluff straight through.

Very nice evocation of Venice; as usual Godden handles her setting with great skill.

Weakest point, aside from the rather lame plot, is that the characters are all quite one-dimensional. We are continually told that Pippa is wonderfully talented and oh-so-special; we must take the author at her word as we never really get too close to Pippa herself. Things seem to happen just a little too easily throughout; there is a lot of glossing over of motivations and actions. This almost feels like a moderately fleshed-out outline of what could perhaps be a much longer and more interesting story.

I wouldn’t recommend this novel as anything but a momentary diversion. It definitely belongs in a Godden collection, and is interesting enough to have limited re-read status, but it really isn’t up to the standard of some of Godden’s masterworks. As I’ve said before, Godden had a great range in her stories; this is on the pallid end of the spectrum. Still better than some of the present-day chick lit I’ve attempted, so extra points for that. Even at her worst, Godden is still good. If you can get this one cheap, take it to the beach, but don’t forget to tuck something else in your bag as well, because slight little Pippa, at less than 200 pages, will pass by very quickly!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phillipa Fane, 17, the youngest dancer in the Midlands City Ballet is chosen to go on an Italian tour. In Venice, she meets Nicolo, a young gondolier, and the family that employs him. When the Ballet Mistress, Angharad Fullerton, makes unwanted sexual advances to Pippa, it is to Nicolo and his employers that she turns for help. There is a lot here on the workings of a ballet company on tour; they danced at the Teatro La Fenice, the historic opera house that was in the news briefly in January '96 when it burned to the ground.

[Ruth Seeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to read some more Godden - there are some nice subtleties in this one relating to youth, coming of age, and finding one's way despite the not necessarily well-meaning intervention of one's elders. Sadly in this one I don't think she really comes to grip with any of the characters - the omniscient third-person narrator approach means we view Pippa from a distance and from the outside, and that's true of all the characters. It may be a case of telling, not showing - I'm not sure. Certainly an easy enough read, and a lovely tribute to Venice.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the typical Rumer Godden novel. This one concerns young Pippa who travels to Venice with her ballet company. Whilst there she meets and is attracted to a gondolier who wants Pippa to sing with his band. At the same time she is pursued by one of the ballet mistresses.

It is a simply told story, I feel it is aimed at the young adult market. I've read it twice now and its not one I'd bother with again. I enjoy other books by this author, especially those set in India, or dealing with nuns.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un petit roman about a young ballerina who goes to Venice and blossoms. Sweet and light. But pretty inconsequential.

If you are interested in reading Rumer Godden, an author of some renown although you don’t hear much about her these days, I highly (HIGHLY!!) recommend instead both “In This House of Brede” and “China Court” both of which are easy to obtain, in my experience, at any decent-sized used bookstore.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pippa is startled to find herself chosen to dance with her ballet company on an international tour. While in Venice, she is selected to dance a special part designed with her in mind. She meets a handsome gondolier who hears her beautiful voice and decides she is perfect for his band.

A delightful lark of a story.

And I’ve had this book for a mere two years.

[Arlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of age novel with many lessons learned by Pippa as she embarks on her career as a ballerina in Venice.

[Kay Robart · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021...

[Gloria]

I did not care for this book.

[Heather Henderson]

Sweet romance between a gondolier and a ballerina, in a magical version of Venice.