Playing with the Grown-Ups

It's not fair. How can Sophie Dahl be the granddaughter of the genius Roald Dahl, a certified supermodel AND an amazing author? Well, it turns out that she's all three and you'll want to hate her for it but you can't. Her book is just too wonderful and girly and good! From English boarding to New York City to Indian ashrams and back to swinging 80s London - I was enthralled by the heroine and her coming of age journey living under the shadow of her glamorous bohemian mother. Dahl's distinctively British touch reminded me of Waugh and Mitford and if you're a fan of either you won't be disappointed with Playing with the Grown Ups! Read it! You'll love it!

Sophie Dahl has a real talent for story telling. This beautifully spun novel plunges head first into the exciting and utterly complicated life of Kitty, an adolescent girl; whose triumphs and tragedies lead her on the bumpy road to adulthood. This story is sprinkled with a cast of wonderful and quirky characters...from the ultimate guru, Swami-ji who at one point rules their lives to the Russian Romeo who longs after girls half his age, to the display of many eccentric men who enter and leave her mother Marina's life...this coming of age book is at once sparkling with wit and humor and immediately captivating in its innocence and warmth. Dahl's ability to create a setting is nostalgic and memorable every step of the way. Be it the English countryside and Hay House or the references she makes to New York; that imagery will be forever etched in my mind. She molds her words as though they were made of clay. Marina's spontaneous and radical efforts to find happiness result in her uprooting her little family - Kitty, Sam, Violet and nanny Nora - from England to New York to the guru's Ashram and back to England. Kitty even has to suffer boarding school and the agonies of being an unpopular girl surrounded by snobs until the guru's vision eventually releases her back to the world. Kitty (aka Kit-Kat) has an unusual childhood...she is the child but also the adult in her world, covering for Marina and protecting her from Bestamama and the parade of drooling men who fall at her feet. Caught between wanting to break free into adulthood and hanging on to the responsible `good girl' that she is, she remains the glue that holds the family together. Marina on the otherhand is impulsive and rebellious and at once loveable although her relationship with Kitty more often resembles that of a friend than a mother figure; Kitty is her rock and Marina, Kitty's anchor. The love in this unusual little family cannot be overlooked. Marina's pride in her `little ones' is a beautiful thing. Kitty's curiosity, love for family and passion for romance are endearing and hilarious as we find her caught in a battle of the mind vs. the heart...still the 15-year old must decide her own fate... Sophie has undoubtedly proven herself as a brilliant literary artist. With her funny imagination, vivid imagery and penchant for the unpredictable, her characters bounce off the pages ready to come alive. She has unquestionably inherited her grandfathers writing talent and firmly planted her feet as a novelist. I can't wait to recommend this book to every girl I know! Brilliant.

I devoured this book. I so enjoyed it. At first, I wanted Kitty's, later I felt such dread and sadness for her.

I'll admit that I first heard of Sophie Dahl during her "real woman" modeling days, but I first fell in love with her voice as an author in a Harper's Bazaar article that she did on living green for a day. Her first book, a fairy tale for adults called The Man With the Dancing Eyes, only whet my appetite for more and Playing With the Grown-Ups does not disappoint. I read this book while sitting on my porch in the first sun of spring, smoking cigarettes and avoiding getting to work. Instead of killing a few hours, I ate the book up in one day, putting it down only when life called me away, and after it was done I felt as though I had been wandering in a pastel English garden for a few hours, a soft blanket wrapped around my shoulders and I was loathe to leave. By now the biographical nature of the novel, and whether or not it is all true, has been hashed to bits and I won't recount the story here. It is clearly a story with a foot placed firmly in reality, but aren't most novels? The real attraction of the story is the delicious prose that pulls you gently along and takes you out of your own world for a little while, which is all that we ask for from our books. I'll admit that I entered into this story with a distinct bias against the author. Perhaps she was riding on her grandfathers coat-tails a bit too far. Just another model - slash - something or other. I was blown away. Ms. Dahl's voice is sweet and eloquent, painting a beautifully vivid portrait of a story that could have very well been dark and depressing. Instead, because of the childish innocence of the novel's star and Ms. Dahl's talent with words, the story feels light and poetic, optimistic and brave. It is rare lately in my busy, chaotic life, to find a novel that draws me into its world and won't let me go. A book that makes you feel like you are wrapped in the arms of someone you love. This book did just that and left me eager for more. My only complaint about this book is that it was far too short.

The story begins with the ever-dreaded phone call in the middle of the night, summoning Kitty to London because something's happened to her mother. Heavily pregnant herself, Kitty gets on the first flight, and, we think, starts the story from the beginning to demonstrate how she and her family got to the point where her mother lies in the hospital. As a child, Kitty lived a somewhat idyllic life in the English countryside with her mother, brother, sister, aunts, grandparents, and nanny. Dahl vividly describes her setting, and one can almost feel the warmth of the sun and the breeze. But Kitty is not destined to remain there. Kitty's mother, Marina, is presented to the reader as someone who does not make the best choices in life. Kitty herself is the product of an affair Marina had as a teenager with a married man. As the story begins, Marina has just found religion, through Swami-ji, the leader of an unnamed cult. Though benevolent in intention, the effect of the cult on Kitty's family is dramatic. Soon, Kitty is separated from her family and sent to a drab boarding school, while her mother and siblings go to New York. Her mother becomes a successful painter in New York, and after a single school year, decides that Kitty should join her. She does, and it is in New York that Kitty first begins to follow her mother's example in walking on the wild side. When the family moves back to London (having been rejected by the cult), Kitty's inhibitions seem to stay in New York. Once in London, she falls in with varying crowds, doing drugs, going to wild parties, and the like. From the loose time references we are given in the book, it is the mid-'90s and Kitty is about 14. Not to be overly naive, but she is far too young to be doing the sorts of things she does (I guess that's where the book gets its title), but even worse is that Marina encourages Kitty's behavior, sometimes even joining her at parties, and passing around the drugs. That Marina genuinely loves Kitty makes this picture even more tragic, as it does not ever seem to occur to Marina that her choices and behavior might be destructive to her children. Finally, Marina takes an overdose and is rushed to the hospital. Kitty calls her grandparents, and is finally able to return to their home. But, although the scene has remained the same, Kitty herself has changed too much to stay there, and decides to go back to boarding school, this time in Connecticut, to make a new start. But here is where the book fails us. Having detailed Kitty's descent, Dahl leaves her redemption to our imagination. We know only that she does manage to make a stable life for herself. Having spent so much time in the dregs with Kitty, it would have been nice if we could have walked with her a bit on her journey up.