The Big Dipper

by Rachel Billington

Ian Harrad has been in the Foreign Office. He has been a writer. Now he has a rich wife, a house in Hampstead and an undemanding position in television. When his wife leaves him, he is amazed. But after all, he reflects, his happiness does not depend on her or his children. Bachelor pleasures come easily: girls, the younger and sexier the better; travel, the ultimate in non-responsibility; and above all, food, an obsession encouraged by London's success world. Life, so perfectly organized, moves faster and faster - smart dinner parties, nightclubs, a trip to Venice, a stay in a fashionable health hydro - until it reaches a crisis. It is easier to get on the Big Dipper than to get off. .

After her vivid New York novel All Things Nice Rachel Billington takes a wryly humorous and penetrating look at London's media people of the sixties. Her remarkable insight into the male mind, her taut construction and the wit and clarity of her style make this an arresting and original novel.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Rachel Billington has written twenty one novels and eleven books for children. She is also a journalist, feature writer and reviewer. She is a regular contributor and Associate Editor of Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners and a Vice-President of English PEN. In 2012 she was awarded an OBE for Services to Literature.