I first learned of this book in an article by lyricist/cricket fanatic Tim Rice that I found online here. In fact, I have Rice's article to thank for putting me on the trail of several works of cricket fiction, but it's this title that he claims as his personal favorite, and I can certainly see why. Pip is the thoroughly charming story of one Philip "Pip" Wilmot, whom we meet as a little boy and follow through schooldays and on into manhood and engagement to his true love. Young Wilmot, it is evident right from the start, is as good a fellow as they come: decent, honest, chivalrous, stalwart, and true. However, the boy is also shy, slow of speech, and, alas, without discernable accomplishment... until a caring schoolmaster takes an interest and discovers that this diamond- in-the-rough is a natural left-arm bowler destined for distinction on the cricket field.

Before that destiny is fulfilled, however, there are schools to be got through, friendships to be made and tested, and first love to be suffered and recovered from. And then, as things are going very well for our hero, he undergoes a drastic reversal of fortune which becomes the occasion of proving just what he's made of.

Pip is nothing if not "of its time and place"; an unabashedly sentimental journey over some of that same territory that was lovingly mined by P.G. Wodehouse for more comic purposes. And, yes, certain bits of the book-- most noticeably, various prep school scenes-- cannot come across as other than hopelessly alien. At the same time, however, author Ian Hay shows himself to have a very "modern" sensibility with respect to understanding human psychology, and his omniscient narrator's frequent wry asides nicely balance the story's romanticism.

Is this a book about cricket? Not exactly. However, the game is an important element of the story (until the end, when a vital round of golf takes center stage), and I think anyone whose interest in cricket includes an appreciation of the romance of the game and its milieu will find Pip a lovely diversion. Concurs Tim Rice in his article, Pip is "thoroughly recommended for all who relish a charming, amusing, whimsical portrait of those doomed, innocent years before the carnage."