Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Cat by Freya North Cat — Freya North. Click on any of the links above to see more books like this one. EDITIONS. FictionDB is committed to providing the best possible fiction reference information. If you have any issues with the site, please don't hesitate to contact us. More about us. Popular Features. Contact & Support. Keep in Touch. Find us on social media. FictionDB © 2021. All Rights Reserved. This page may contain affiliate links and advertising. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. See the full disclosure. Cat by Freya North. She’s in for the ride of her life. Her career is stuck in a rut. Her love life has been a tangle. But fortune favours the brave… When journalist Cat McCabe lands a job reporting on the Tour de France she’s confident it might give her stuttering career the boost it needs and provide a welcome distraction from a messy break-up. Or so she hopes. She quickly realizes Le Tour is not just all about the bikes. Large bulges, huge egos, lashings of Lycra and plenty of sexy shenanigans play their part and, soon enough, her own life starts to mirror the high peaks and perilous lows of the race as she battles for more than just a scoop. Whatever happens, it’s going to be the ride of her life. With sex, drugs, large bulges and larger egos, the soap opera that is the Tour de France unfolds, with Cat’s life frequently mirroring the peaks and perils of the race. Buy now from: Purchase Paperback from: Purchase E-Book from: A Personal Note from Freya. Though this was my 4th novel, it was this book that really drummed home to me that I WAS AN AUTHOR. I had long been a fan of the Tour de France – from the comfort of my sofa…and now, my writing credentials enabled me to bag an access-all-areas pass. Bizarrely, life imitated art rather than vice versa – and I followed in Cat’s footsteps, spending my time on the Tour masquerading as a journalist, writing for the Times, for radio and for cycling magazines. The first Tour I went on was 1998 – which was the one with all the huge drug scandals. It was won by the inimitable Marco Pantani – who later died from a drugs overdose. The next Tour was won by Lance Armstrong. Many of the real riders, all of whom were very kind and welcoming, traded anecdotes or rides in their team cars for a cameo appearance in the book! Reviews. ‘An original, direct, funny new voice’ Independent on Sunday. ‘Very racy indeed … Jilly Cooper on wheels’ Woman’s Own. ‘Foxy, feelgood air’ She. What happened next to Cat. Cat and Ben have spent four exciting years in Boulder, Colorado (setting up home together – and flying the Union Jack from their porch). Their careers have provided ample opportunity for travel – Cat furthering her career as a sports journalist, Ben continuing as team doctor to professional racing team, Megapac.. Rachel, however, has retired as soigneur and moved to a gorgeous town in Colorado, half an hour from Cat and Ben. She now works at a spa as a masseuse making more money for shorter hours than at any time during her working life. Her relationship with Andre the mechanic did not last but there’s a reflexologist at the spa with whom a tentative dalliance is in its infancy. Jawlensky and Ducasse continue to compete for the sports most coveted titles and karma seems to dictate an equal number of trophies for the arch rivals. Josh and Alex still hold court in the salle de presse, driving like lunatics from Stage to Stage and bickering amongst themselves like an elderly married couple. Luca Jones’s career is colourful as ever with lucrative advertising and sponsorship deals giving him the sort of income that the bimbos love. Consequently, his life off the bike is one of fast motorbikes, faster cars and fast women. Cat teases him, which bolsters his ego no end. Ben chides him, worries about him, which secretly quite touches the rider. However, Luca will have to start looking after himself a little more as Ben has just decided not to renew his contract with Megapac. And Cat has handed in her notice at Maillot – she’s loved being assistant editor on the magazine but it’s time to move on. Perhaps she’ll go freelance. At the moment she’s not sure. She’s not even sure that she’s doing the right thing going back to the UK. But she has Ben by her side and her sisters Fen and Pip will welcome her home. Django will probably prepare a Spread in her honour. Cat, by Freya North. It's Valentine's Day on Monday. Stuck for a last-minute gift idea and know you'll get slaughtered if you bring home another bunch of forecourt flowers or suggest going to see Never Let Me Go ? Do we have the gift for you! Title: Cat Author: Freya North Publisher: William Heinemann Year: 1999 Pages: 427 Order: Random House What it is: A Tour de France bonk- buster. Strengths: Lashings of lycra! Silky smooth shaven legs! Biiiiig silky smooth shaven legs! Did I mention the silky smooth shaven legs yet? Weaknesses: Should only be taken as part of a properly balanced reading diet. Catriona McCabe's mother once ran off with a cowboy from Denver. She only had to do it the once as she never came back. It was an important event in the life of young Cat, for it led to her and her two sisters, Pip and Fen, being raised by their uncle Django. (Crazy name? Crazy guy. Don't try his damson and ouzo jam. Or his pizza, which may contain damson and ouzo jam). Now aged twenty-eight, Cat's landed a freelance gig with the Guardian , covering the Tour de France. She's not just a fan with a typewriter, she's officially a cycling journaliste ("please emphasise the eeste - jounaliste sounds so much more delicious, much more prestigious than journalist"). At the end of this gig is the hope of a full-time editorial spot with Maillot magazine. Cat's trip to the Tour is also her chance to join the Foreign Legion and learn to forget. Forget what? The reason she fell in love with cycling in the first place: she fell in love with a cyclist. Some people collect football scarves by which they can remember their exes. Cat probably has a collection of back issues of The Comic . Five years of em. But now her Mr-d'Arcy-in-lycra has ridden off into the sunset. He's out of her life. But always on her mind. The Tour is a chance to wash that man right out of her head. Three weeks may not be enough to find Mr Right but surely there's a pretty good chance of finding a Mr Right Now? Most of the novel then is your bog-standard story of girl meets boy, boy rams his tongue down girl's throat, girl wants to show boy that she too has a tongue like an electric eel and can do more than tickle his tonsils with it. They go at it like wild animals. Only for a cycle of misunderstandings to ensue. Girl thinks boy is a promiscuous slut doing a George Hincapie with a podium girl. Break up. Girl realises boy is not a wanton tramp after all and there's an innocent explanation for his interest in podium girls (no, he's not a closet cross-dresser with a penchant for frou-frou skirts). Make up. They go at it like wild animals. Boy gets the hump when he thinks girl is two-timing him with a boyfriend back home. Break up. Resolution. Make up. They go at it like wild animals. Ah, the dialectics of love. It's not just our heroine and her beau who are engaged in vigorous exchanges of bodily fluids. North's is a testosterone-fuelled peloton . That peloton is one of the cute things about Cat , in that it mixes an imagined bunch of riders with real ones. You have stars of the calibre of Mario Cipollini and Stu O'Grady and (pre-sainthood) David Millar and Tyler Hamilton (not the real Tyler Hamilton as he seems to complete the race without nearly dying of sun-stroke or breaking any bones or eating his own teeth) all putting in appearances alongside North's own creations. Let's have a look at those synthetic cyclists. There's the Système Vipère boys, ruled over by the most aptly named directeur sportif in the history of cycling, Jules le Grand. He has hopes for all three jerseys being won by his riders. They're lead by GC contender Fabian Ducasse, winner of the Dauphiné, twenty-nine, six-foot and oozing hottitude: "swarthy, handsome, smelling of Calvin Klein scent and looking very much like someone who might advertise their wares if he weren't a professional cyclist." He should have won the last Tour but for a tragic défaillance . He's joined by team-mate and KOM candidate, Carlos Jesu Valasquez, aka the Pocket Rocket, the Cicada, the Little Lion. Rounding the team out is their star sprinter, MSR winner and maillot vert contender, Jesper Lomers, aka the Blond Bomb, the Rotterdam Rocket. Système Vipère's main rivals are the boys from Zucca MV, lead by defending champ Vasily Jawlesnsky (that's Jaw with a with a y and a v, or Yav for short). He's joined by two-time winner of the polka-dot jersey and Donna magazine's 'Sexiest Man on Two Wheels,' Massimo Lipari, and the team's flamboyant sprinter, Stefano Sassetta. Their soigneur, Rachel McEwen, rules over them like a mother hen. And then there's the wildcard underdogs, the boys from Megapac, a US team with a Brit doctor, Ben York, and an Anglo-Italian starlet and Giro d'Italia stage-winner, Luca Jones (think Max Sciandri, only without Luigi Cecchini hanging around in the background), supported by the perfectly toothed and impossibly earnest Hunter Dean and Travis Stanton. Jones has a great line in double entendres but seems to be all bark and no bite when it comes to bedroom shenanigans during the Tour. Jawlensky is a real strange one. In a book full of manly men and girlie girls he's a bit of a mouse who suddenly lobs the gob on his soigneur but doesn't seem to know what to do next. The soigneur I should point out is female. There are some things cycling just isn't ready for yet. (Cat does have a couple of GBFs but sadly they disappear from the story before things really get going.) The real star - in the sex stakes at least - is Ducasse, a real wham-bam-thank-you-mam type for whom sex is an expression of power ("He needed to reassert his strength, his supremacy") or a little non-manual stress relief. Actually, Ducasse comes across a bit like Blackadder 's Flashheart, particularly when he summons a hotel receptionist to his room, she meekly submits to his charms and they engage in a bout of rumpy-pumpy which is more of a frenzied sprint than an attempt on the Hour record, all jangling elbows and trembling knees and no finesse. Definitely a rider with a high T count. It's no wonder he had a jour sans in the previous Tour. You might be wondering where all this testosterone is coming from. Rest easy, most of it seems to be endogenous. North though does not dodge the bullet on the doping issue. Cat was researched during the 1998 Tour de France, the one that started in Dublin and ended in turmoil. We first get a whiff of doping during an exchange between Cat and one of her journalist colleagues, in which each statement about drugs is followed by 'but let's not talk about it.' The basic view of doping here - as offered by one veteran journo and Cat herself - seems to be that it's purely medicinal: low testosterone causes osteoporosis, the UCI's limits are arbitrary and you're only looking after yourself if you top yourself up to those limits. The veteran journo does say that it's hard to quantify the level of doping in the peloton , "what with sophisticated masking agents and the fateful turning of blind eyes - which I would rank as being more criminal than substance abuse itself," A powerful statement, that. Made funny by another cry of "let's not talk about it." Which just about sums up the attitude at the time in much of the Anglosphere media. Doping makes a more forceful appearance late in the novel, when one of the members of Megapac is thought to be considering recourse to pharmaceutical enhancement. His doctor - the dashing and handsome Ben York, a real Dr McDreamy - turns for assistance to rivals Zucca MV, whose star rider is a reformed doper. Some years earlier, Jawlesnsky had doubled the Giro and the Tour only now he doesn't recognise the rider he was back then, seeing as that feat was achieved with the aid of EPO. Somewhere along the line since then he's voluntarily cleaned up his act, apparently without the intervention of the cycling authorities. Yav takes the Megapac rider aside and tells him his own story and how he now values riding clean more than he did winning dirty. The best thing about this scene - which admittedly feels fake the way it's shoe-horned into the story, but hey, that's fiction for you, it ain't always pretty - is that North doesn't shirk from hammering home the real cost of doping: "When I first took [EPO], my kidneys felt like balloons full of water bashing the base of my back. My vision went queer, my joints hurt, I'd get nosebleeds. The migraines - terrible. [. ] I beat dope control, won through cheating and the only price I'll pay is probably to die prematurely." He then goes on to detail another physical cost of EPO: "The iron level in my blood was so high - and for such an extended period. If I'm lucky I might avoid kidney failure. If I'm truly blessed I just might not contract cancer." (It's a curious fact that, between 1994 and 1999, the UCI went from worrying about iron deficiency in riders - which lead to anaemia and, consequently, the use of iron supplements - to wondering why so many riders on certain teams were showing excessive levels of iron reserves. Given the presence of Francesco Conconi on the Medical Commission you wouldn't have thought the matter needed much studying to find out its cause. But let's not talk about that.) Real life of course doesn't mirror fiction. If it had, the real versions of Yav might not have been laughed off the stage by the press and the rest of the peloton . But hey, did we really want cry-babies like Christophe Bassons in the peloton in 1999? When we had a hero straight from central casting? (Oops, I'm supposed to be not talking about that, amn't I?) Now I wouldn't expect you to want to read a novel - any novel - just because of a couple of scenes which bang on about doping. I may be obsessed with the subject but I don't expect you to be too. Our glorious leader, Phat Pat, could actually be right, the past is the past and we really need to build a bridge and get over it. (Pink fluffy thoughts, that's what I need to be thinking. Nice, big, pink, fluffy thoughts. Oh look, that one's shaped just like a syringe.) Nor I do expect the novel's love story to float a lot of boats around here. Unless of course there's a secret cohort of Cosmo readers lurking out there. Though with all the fashion and hottitude around this place why any of them would still be lurking beats me. What you might want to read Cat for is the passion North brings to the sport. She clearly loves cycling, and loves the idea of sharing her enjoyment of this sport. North crams in the cycling lore, Cat either showing off her inner statto as a way of winning the respect of her journo peers (what is it with cycling nerds that the only way you can impress them is by donning your anorak and reciting the most obscure stats about stage speeds or how many left- handed Geminis have doubled the Het Volk and the Tour de Suisse?) or explaining the history of the sport to her sisters who are hooked on Phil 'n' Paul's C4 coverage (the sisters are actually rather annoying, a bit too giddy and Enid Blyton for my tastes. That's probably just me - I never did get The Famous Five . I much preferred the Moomintrolls). A lot of the sport North doesn't bother explaining, she just gets on with the business of describing the racing (in between all the breaking up and making up and the going at it like wild animals). This is done through a mix of Cat's daily pieces for the Gruan and descriptions of some of the on the road action from your typical omnipresent narrator who, atypically, has a nice tendency to suddenly start interrogating the characters on what they're really thinking, or occasionally warning the reader of an up-coming plot development. Having embedded herself in the Tour's press corps you might expect North to have gone native and bigged up all the Tour journos as a wonderful bunch of chaps (and, even in 1998, they were, almost to a man, all chaps, with few chapesses in their midst). This she does not do. The salle de presse is a smoke-filled fug with a mix of pungent and hirsute fashion victims. These saddos love to demonstrate their status by wearing previous years' branded freebies instead of this year's booty. This year's branded freebies they save for future Tours. Add in their predilection for shorts - it's hard to take seriously any man who wears shorts, unless he's actually engaged in athletic activity - and they sound like the sort of weirdoes you'd cross the street to avoid. And yet we hang on their every word come Tour time. Go figure. In his recent Cyclopedia (no cycling bookshelf is complete without a copy of it - honest) William Fotheringham claims that Cat has achieved cult status among veterans of the '98 Tour, who "are known to scrutinise the book closely trying to figure out who is who." One real life journo to make an appearance in Cat is Jeremy Whittle, whose Yellow Fever is a pretty good account of the '98 Tour (up there with Sam Abt's account of the race, In Pursuit Of The Yellow Jersey ) and whose Bad Blood is a strange tale of a journo torn between the Force and the Dark Side (one of which is represented by Lance Armstrong and the other by Paul Kimmage. And I'm not saying which is Obi-Wan and which is Darth Vader). Sadly, I can't recall whether Whittle mentioned North in either of his books. He should have, because she gives him a deus ex machina rôle in Cat . ( Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you . ) As well as looking at the journos, North casts a cold eye on other aspects of life on Planet Tour. By picking three riders and a member of team personnel from three imagined teams, she's able to explore different aspects the sport. We get glimpses into the lives of directeurs sportifs and soigneurs. W e get to experience the highs and the lows of life in the saddle, from the joy of victory to the pain of just trying to beat the broom wagon. And we get glimpses of life off the bike too. For sure these glimpses can seem somewhat superficial and you sometimes get to feeling that too much is happening to too small a cast of characters in too tight a timeframe, but for what it is - a chick-lit novel set in the world of cycling - Cat is a fun introduction to the sport. Where you might get most use out of Cat is in giving it to someone who just doesn't get your obsession with bike racing. North's passion really is infectious. If they don't get cycling after reading Cat then just accept defeat and give up trying to convert them. So to the big question then: should you read Cat yourself? If you like chick-lit, definitely go for it. If you've never tried chick-lit, here's as good an excuse as you'll get to dip your toes into the genre. If you're a jaded cynic . well hell, I actually kind of enjoyed it. But that's me and I like cauliflower. You don't have to. Author Freya North on life and her 'good old feisty romps' Freya's writing career began - against the advice of family and friends - when she threw caution to the wind and quit her PhD course in Art History to start her first novel Sally . She took a temping job to pay the rent and sent her manuscript to potential agents. In 1996, after four years of rejection, she secured an agent by making up fake reviews. The result was a frenzied bidding war and a six-figure advance in exchange for three books. As she unveils her new romance novel Pip , we gave you the chance to ask Freya your burning questions - from how to get a six-figure publishing deal to whether the steamy sex scenes she writes about are based on her own bedroom experiences! For those of you who weren't able to join in the fun, here's a transcript of what you missed. puptent Hello. How do your friends and family react to the raunchy sex scenes in your novels! Do they automatically think it's based on your own experiences - and is it. freya_north Aa ha ha - I wish. Actually, neither my Dad or my partner have read any of my books, but my Great Aunt Greta - who is 93 - tells me off if the sex isn't in the first couple of chapters! It's funny how my friends can't wait to tell me of their sexploits in the hope I'll put them in the novel! marshwriggle Afternoon - Could I ask how would I go about finding a publisher for short stories and poetry and novels? freya_north The best advice I can give is to consult the Writers and Artists Year Book which lists all agents and publishers, send a synopsis, a few sample chapters - and don't become demoralised. I was rejected LOADS. chick_lit_lover Many people think they could write a book, what gave you the push to start and how did you survive for money? freya_north I wanted to write the sort of book I wanted to read - but couldn't find in the bookshops. I temped and was on the dole for a while - but I so loved writing Sally's story that as soon as it was done. I started Chloe's tale straight away. psssst Hi Freya. Are your characters based on real people in your life? If so, has anyone ever recognsied themselves? freya_north No, on the whole my characters are fictitious though they are very real to me! However, my family and friends sometimes recognize elements of themselves - or even me - in chararcters. But that's unintentional. Sometimes, I'll use a friend's name but out of context. In my third novel, Polly, I used my friend's names for the naughty schoolgirls Polly taught. They were all flattered! sharkeee Hi Freya - Do you ever get embarassed writing sex scenes in your books? freya_north No. It's quite funny really. Not horny at all. You imagine a scene then have to slow down and think about if it's physically possible. You end up thinking "hmmm, if he puts his right arm there and her left leg is here. " happy_chick Hi Freya! Who do you write your novels for? Young women or all ages? freya_north Well, I kind of write them just for me, however, it appears that they are popular with my contemporaries PLUS elderly gentlemen and schoolboys. I've also had some lovely letters from older women - perhaps because they're reminded of their feisty youth. aud.mccloud Hi, would you let any of your books turned into a film if you were approached? freya_north Well, Polly has been optioned and re-optioned so I'm waiting to see if that'll come off. If so, I want a cameo and I want Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts as Max and Polly. katie_femail Do you sometimes find that when you're talking to people, you pay close attention to the way they interact and their mannerisms because it makes for good writing material? freya_north Absolutely. Watch what you say or do when I'm around - it's subconsciously logged. I don't sit there and make notes, but I find that I'll remember quirks whilst writing and then there's no changing them! Not even for a bribe - or Brad Pitt! adam_p I'm a writer and am having a terrible time trying to shop my manuscript. Do you think there's a reason why publishers are more apt to pick up chick-lit than books with similar themes, but about men? freya_north I'm sure publishers would be looking for bloke-lit (. ) I mean, look at Nick Hornby, John O'Farrell et al. However, it is hugely competitive and of course subjective. You need to find the right agent first and foremost. moderator How did you find your agent, Freya? freya_north Well, hmmm, through devious means actually. I had been rejected by so many that I decided to approach one of the leading literary agents. I sent him my 3 chapters and a synopsis. But also a page of reviews that I had completely made up - Sunday Times, Jilly Cooper, Daily Mail, Cosmo, Germaine Greer. You name 'em, I lied. Anyway, it caught his attention (especially cos he knows La Greer and La Cooper). It was 1995, he put my work up for grabs and it was one of those "right book, right moment" fairy tales. 6 books later, I feel so lucky. moderator Did any of them ever contact you to say they hadn't reviewed the book? freya_north NOT. AS.YET. moderator This question was emailed in yesterday by Niki in Plymouth: I have an idea for a trilogy of books, but am having trouble with starting the first. I can't seem to find a starting point, once I've found the right "vibe" to sit down and write, I don't seem to take it anywhere. The characters are pretty much decided and the titles and storyline are fairly ordered, but when it comes to putting something on paper which I can go back to and continue, I can't seem to do it. Any suggestions!? freya_north Blimey. A trilogy? Maybe that's the problem. May be you are expecting SO much of yourself and your characters. I just sit down, with the vaguest of ideas on what the book'll be about and then I wait for the characters to let me know more. I never know how a book will unfold, let alone end, when I start it. I'd start with the first word of chapter one, and then be patient. Just let the characters bring their own story to you - even if it's different to what you thought you'd write! In my last book, when Fen has to choose between two men, she actually chooses the one I didn't want her to. chick_lit_lover Who are your favourite authors? freya_north Well, I absolutely love English romps like Tom Jones and Moll Flanders. I also enjoy Barbara Trapido, Rose Tremain, John Irving, Jessica Adams, Mr Men books, Miffy books for my two year old, Felix). moderator Here's a question - what 3 books would you take if you were stranded on a desert island? freya_north What? Only 3. Jeez - the Sunday Express let me take 5!! ok - I'd take Moll Flanders, I'd take a marvellous book called Dibs: In Search of Self by Virginia Axiline - non-fiction but stunning - and I'd take I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. And no, I HAVEN'T been to see the movie version. And I'd sneak in a brad pitt photo colleciton. moderator I sense an obsession. wannnabe Hi Freya, have you any plans to change your style of writing completely, or do you think you'll always stick to the chick-lit blend? freya_north Shut up with the bloody chick-lit term - I hate it! Mind you, when I started out, they had me down as a "spinsterati writer" like Helen Fielding et al¿ Acutally, I really see my books not as part of a bandwagon but as good old feisty romps. By that, I mean pretty normal girl-meets-boy love stories but with a modern twist and lots of twisty sex. I don't set out to write in a certain style - it is the only way I can write, but you never know, maybe there's a sci-fi novel lurking? georgeee All your main charaters are late-twenties. Do you think they will get older as you age? freya_north Funnily enough, Pip is 30! And in Fen, one of the love interests was gasp 50! But yes, they are getting older - though not necessarily wiser. I'm 35 - shock horror! I like to have the characters younger than me so I can tell them off when they misbehave. amyleddington Hello Freya, please can you explain just how you hapenned to get so interested in the Tour de France? Were you literally just flicking through the channels and enjoyed watching it as I read? freya_north Yes. I was writing my first novel sally and was zapping around the remote control and saw all those boys on bikes. All that lycra. They were climbing an Alp in scorching heat, the loonies. I became really interested in the sport back then (1991) and have followed it ever since - nowadays, on the sofa on the TV. marshwriggle I want to write a book about the loss of my son to adoption. Do you think there is a market for this type of book? freya_north Yes. I do. Louise Voss wrote a book recently about searching for her mum. It was very well received. Good luck! adam_p Your launch parties look very posh - do you have any good gossip stories to share with us about them? freya_north Well, there's one tomorrow night! And I've been growing my hair so I can really let it down! They¿re not posh - but they are legendary. Actually, it's a great mix of friends, trade, media - all the people who help my 'girls' on their way. Now, as for gossip, well I'm the soul of indiscretion me. So. there was the time when you-know-who kissed whats-their-name - and that's all you'll get from me! moderator Is there anyone who's turned up to a launch that you were 'star-struck' by and maybe didn't think would come? freya_north My dad! wordy1 You're known for your raunchy sex scenes. What advice would you give your daughter about sex and love? freya_north Be careful, be sure, be in love, enjoy! But only when you're 25 or older. amyleddington You have really ignited my own love for the Tour de France, and now I am obsessed! freya_north Good. It's a terrific sport - somewhat maligned in this country. It's breathtaking to watch and it's amazing to think what these athletes put themselves through. Plus, it really is 3 weeks of open-air theatre/soap opera - big egos, big bulges, sex, drugs. teatreeoil What would you do if you were not earning millions writing. freya_north I¿d ride horses. I had to sell my two when my babies came along. I miss them. I'd bog off to the countryside and just live with my family and horses. And grow cabbage. Perhaps onions, too. soopertrooper Hi everyone. Hello Freya!! Is that really you *ST pinches Freya to find out* freya_north Yes it is. How can i prove it? Go on - challenge me! moderator You could live to regret that! noodles_noodles What do you make of Bridget Jones? Has it done anything for the genre do you think? freya_north Hmmm. Well, i absolutely loved BJ as a column but though I loved the first 2/3 of the book, I found it a little flat. However, I thought the film was magnificent. Hugh Grant as a villain - yes please! I so don't get the Colin Firth thing. moderator Do you have an opinion on the movie role going to an American actress? freya_north Rennee was bloody good - that's the skill of being an actress. Who cares what her 'birth accent' is if she can act her pants off - big pants off! chocolatehobnob Helloooooo! What's the publishing industry like? I know it can't be as bad as the music industry but surely there's a nasty side to it? freya_north Hulllloooooo! For the most part it's fine. There's been the odd poncey soiree where other authors start banging on about their japanese deal and all their dosh but on the whole, I've met some lovely people. Especially through the 'Girls Night In' project - authors like Fiona Walker, Chris Manby, Cathy Kelly, Jane Owen, Jessica Adams, Wendy Holden, Faith Bleasdale, Mike Gayle. Emlyn and Josie are all good pals. We have Christmas parties and nights out as if we were regular colleagues at a company! moderator I've got a question for you - do you decide on the girls' names before you put 'pen to paper' or do they come to you after the character is developed? freya_north They come with their names. I don't know which happens first. I love surnames. I love Chloe's surname Cadwallader. Just yell that out loud next time you stub your toe or spill something. And I think of Cat Fen and Pip as the 'McCabe Girls' ¿ I like it that their names Catriona, Fenella, Philippa are only ever used when they're naughty!! moderator How long do you spend mulling before you start to write? freya_north I'm always mulling. I was mulling in the cab en route here today. I think when I stop mulling then that's the time to move to the countryside and do the horse/cabbage-growing thing. adam_p What are you reading at the moment? freya_north I'm reading a proof copy (ie: uncorrected edition) of Jessica Adams' new book, Cool for Cats. It's about a music journalist and punk rock. chocolatehobnob Your kids look adoreable by the way Freya. I just love the photo captions on your website! Not sure they'll forgive you though! freya_north Thank you. Thank you. They are scrumptious. moderator I'm afraid this next one will have to be our final question for today. freya_north By the way, anyone who didn't get to 'chat' today, do e.mail me via my website www.freyanorth.co.uk. I respond to everyone in person - though it sometimes takes me a week or two! fairygodmum So your book's out tomorrow - you must be manic promoting it (thanks by the way from coming along to chat to us lot!!). So any parties this week, celebs to hang out with, free champers? If you need to take anyone with you I'm sure you'll find a willing Mail onliner! freya_north I'm SO excited for my girl Pip - the thrill of seeing my books in the bookshops, of signing copies, hasn't lessened at all. The party should be great - if the weather holds. It's on a roof-deck of a cool club in town. My parents are babysitting until the next morning (ta, ma and pa) so yes, there will be free champers. Anyway, I promise to post pix on the website as soon as they're developed, or should I say censored. moderator That's all we have time for. Freya, thanks so much for coming in today! And thanks to everyone who submitted questions. freya_north Thanks so much. Blimey, my fingers are cramping -that was speedy keyboard tapping by yours truly! Have a great summer and hopefully see you live on line at femail.co.uk when the next novel is out! Oooh! Sneak preview - my 7th is about two best friends - one chooses love according to what her head informs her will be a good idea, the other is a slave to her heart's desire. WHICH ARE YOU. Bye bye xxxxx. *Review* The Way Back Home by Freya North. This year I had been so excited for June 19th. Why I hear you ask well, I am a massive bookworm (well when I get the chance) and my favourite author, the lady who reignited my love of reading nearly 10 years ago was releasing her 13th novel. I had space already and waiting on her special shelf, the top one on my bookcase. You can read about it in my I Heart Books post. Freya North: The Way Back Home. Her 13th novel broke something of a tradition of mine. I am a confessed cheapskate and usually wait for books to go on offer, but I had waited so long for this book, almost 2 years since her last if I remember rightly, I pre-ordered! Pre-ordered seriously, from Amazon. Obviously in a hardback mainly out of respect as this is Freya’s own personal preference when reading but mainly as I have all her other books in the proper book, paper form why stop now! So, on to the book, the first of hers to be released in a hardback, We were who we were, the children of Windward – a little ragtaggle tribe defining the ethos and eccentricity of the place… I had the book for 10 days before I actually read it, I didn’t want to be disappointed, yet I desperately wanted to read it. And I read it in 2 days pretty much around work, sat in the sun in the garden, it was the best way to enjoy it. What happened 18 years ago when they were 15? Where had she been? Why was she back? After years of living in the States, Oriana came home to Derbyshire. To reconnect with her old life and start again. She comes home to live with her mum, but you soon start to get the idea she isn’t really wanted there and so sets about starting to stand on her own two feet. Building a new life whilst searching for answers and figuring out her past. Freya North does an excellent job filling in pieces in a slow, methodical way, like slowly peeling off the layers to reveal the secret at the heart of the story. Taking us on Oriana’s journey with her, through every step she takes. From revisiting her childhood home Windward and her meeting up again with the two men who were such an important part of her life before the incident and how they accept her being back in their lives and the feelings it stirs up in all three of them. The story is beautifully told. Carefully and gently, letting us in only when Oriana herself is ready, and the more I read, the more I wanted to know to find out what had happened, would she make the right choices and was going to live with Jed in Sheffield the best choice to make? The past finally comes to a head in the present without spoiling anything, but is it what is wanted, or needed by all parties involved? For me? It was I was hooked from page 1 with the suspense over the accident being held the whole way through until the reveal, and I’m not ashamed to say I teared up a little at the end, by this time feeling so emotionally attached. Speaking of being attached, I do get attached to many of the characters in Freya’s books. For me, I was delighted by chance to catch up with one of my favourite leading ladies, Cat who herself has her own book as do her sisters and one about the family. Almost like they are somehow becoming friends who I have never met (and don’t exist yeah yeah I am aware!) So a big thank you to Freya for this. So all in all, what did I think? I wasn’t disappointed, love, romance, family dramas, and suspense for me. This book has it all, and I recommend to everyone looking for a new summer read for the beach this summer holiday you won’t be disappointed at all! 10/10. You can read a free ebook sampler of this novel here, a try before you buy if you like. Cat by Freya North. $14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime. No default payment method selected. We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method. Publisher's Summary. Cat McCabe is a budding sports journalist who's just been offered the chance of a lifetime - to cover the Tour de France for the Guardian . But, recently dumped by her boyfriend, she's feeling a little on the fragile side and lacking confidence. How will she survive the testosterone-fuelled cycling race? Will she succumb to the muscular thighs of the cyclists - and they to her English gorgeousness? Will her ex show up? How will she survive as one of only a handful of women in the 1,000-strong press corps? Set against the backdrop of the French countryside, with sex, drugs, Lycra, large bulges and even larger egos, the Tour de France unfolds, with McCabe's life mirroring the peaks, perils and pace of the race. More from the same. Author. Pillow Talk Chances The Turning Point. Narrator. Farm Fatale Pillow Talk The Undomestic Goddess. What listeners say about Cat. Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews. Audible.com Reviews. Audible.co.uk reviews. Amazon Reviews. Anonymous User 10-10-20. Robot voice. Title says it all. Awful. Don’t recommend using this for one of your credits. Terrible.