Piglet is an ideal read for a book club because it provokes a range of views, which leads to a great discussion. The person who suggested it to my book club was a bit disappointed as felt it was more chick lit than literary fiction. A couple of members really enjoyed it. Others didn’t love it but thought it was an easy to read and often very funny book.
Piglet is author Lottie Hazell’s debut novel, and the cover provides a clue that food is a central theme. The book’s main protagonist was given the nickname Piglet by her parents as a child. She hoovered up a lot of food back then, and the name has stuck, even being used by her fiancé Kit. Only her best friend Margot calls her by her actual name, Pippa.
Class is another theme in the book, and we quickly learn that Piglet grew up in a red-brick terraced house in Derby. Her parents are still there, along with her sister Franny and boyfriend Darren. But Piglet has traded up. Kit’s parents live in Oxford and have money. Enough money that they were able to give their son and future daughter-in-law a sizeable chunk to buy a property, which they’ve just done, also in Oxford, albeit on the opposite side of town to the in-laws.
So, all is rosy in the world for Piglet until Kit drops a bombshell two weeks before their wedding. But the reader never finds out what the bombshell is. This was a subject of great debate at my book group. Some (me included) were frustrated by it and kept reading, expecting an eventual reveal. Others felt it didn’t matter, as the book is about the fallout. Personally, I felt I couldn’t really judge if Piglet’s response was proportionate without knowing what Kit had confessed to.
Initially, the response Piglet has to Kit’s betrayal is surprisingly calm. Whatever she may be feeling deep inside, she doesn’t let those feelings crack the facade. The wedding must go on. This is the life she has worked towards, the assured recipe for her happiness. But as the days tick by, Piglet starts to unravel. One of the book’s best elements is the structure of chapters that count down the days and get more tense as they move ever closer to the big day.
The question at the heart of it is, will Piglet go through with it, or will she walk away from the big, beautiful life she was convinced she wanted? As well as tension, there’s a lot of comedy between the pages. And of course, I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that while not the greatest piece of literary fiction I’ve read, it’s a book that’s certainly worth investing a few hours in.
I bought a copy of Piglet from the Oxfam shop where I work as a book volunteer. You might also find it in your local library, or you could try Oxfam’s online store.
For more book reviews, visit the Books section of my blog.