Kitty loves living at the isolated Hay House with her doting grandparents, but it cannot provide the adventure and excitement that her restless, bohemian mother Marina craves. When a guru sees Marina's future in New York, Kitty is torn from her home and bounced from place to place—first a colorless boarding school, then an American ashram, and finally back to an unfamiliar England. But soon, no god, man, or martini can staunch Marina's hunger for a happiness that proves all too elusive. And Kitty, turning fifteen, must choose: whether to play dangerous games with the grown-ups or put herself first.
With this witty and poignant debut novel, Sophie Dahl ably carries on the literary legacy of her grandfather, the beloved children's book author Roald Dahl.
“A tale that finds magic and shadows alike in a young girl's coming-of-age on both sides of the Atlantic.” —Vogue
“Captivating. . . . [Dahl] blurs the line between memoir and fiction with her portrait of an appealing, resilient girl named Kitty.” —The New York Times
“Utterly charming.” —Los Angeles Times
“Funny and moving. . . . Playing with the Grown-upsgrows beyond charming child's play to a clear-eyed compassion for the world's limitless store of tragic comedy.” —BookPage
Sophie Dahl began her career as a model, but writing was always her first love. In 2003 she wrote an illustrated novella called The Man with the Dancing Eyes, which was a Times bestselling book. This was followed by a novel, Playing with the Grown-Ups, published to widespread praise by Bloomsbury in 2007. Dahl is a contributing editor at British Vogue. She has also written for US Vogue, Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine, the Observer, the Guardian, and the Saturday Times Magazine, among others.
A devoted eater and cook, she wrote a book chronicling her misadventures with food, Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights, published by HarperCollins in 2009, which was her second Times bestseller. Following on the success of Voluptuous Delights, Dahl wrote and presented a popular BBC2 six-part cooking series, The Delicious Miss Dahl, which aired in numerous countries all over the world.
Dahl lives in England, where she continues to work on her journalism, fiction, and baking. Visit www.sophiedahl.com.
Kitty loves living at the isolated Hay House with her doting grandparents, but it cannot provide the adventure and excitement that her restless, bohemian mother Marina craves. When a guru sees Marina's future in New York, Kitty is torn from her home and bounced from place to place—first a colorless boarding school, then an American ashram, and finally back to an unfamiliar England. But soon, no god, man, or martini can staunch Marina's hunger for a happiness that proves all too elusive. And Kitty, turning fifteen, must choose: whether to play dangerous games with the grown-ups or put herself first.
With this witty and poignant debut novel, Sophie Dahl ably carries on the literary legacy of her grandfather, the beloved children's book author Roald Dahl.
Reviews
“A tale that finds magic and shadows alike in a young girl's coming-of-age on both sides of the Atlantic.” —Vogue
“Captivating. . . . [Dahl] blurs the line between memoir and fiction with her portrait of an appealing, resilient girl named Kitty.” —The New York Times
“Utterly charming.” —Los Angeles Times
“Funny and moving. . . . Playing with the Grown-upsgrows beyond charming child's play to a clear-eyed compassion for the world's limitless store of tragic comedy.” —BookPage
Sophie Dahl began her career as a model, but writing was always her first love. In 2003 she wrote an illustrated novella called The Man with the Dancing Eyes, which was a Times bestselling book. This was followed by a novel, Playing with the Grown-Ups, published to widespread praise by Bloomsbury in 2007. Dahl is a contributing editor at British Vogue. She has also written for US Vogue, Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine, the Observer, the Guardian, and the Saturday Times Magazine, among others.
A devoted eater and cook, she wrote a book chronicling her misadventures with food, Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights, published by HarperCollins in 2009, which was her second Times bestseller. Following on the success of Voluptuous Delights, Dahl wrote and presented a popular BBC2 six-part cooking series, The Delicious Miss Dahl, which aired in numerous countries all over the world.
Dahl lives in England, where she continues to work on her journalism, fiction, and baking. Visit www.sophiedahl.com.
