Roald Dahl's Granddaughter Releases First Novel

My first ever love affair with an author happened in 4th grade when I read Matilda by Roald Dahl. I had always loved reading prior to this, but Roald Dahl's imaginitive tales set me over the top. I devoured each and every one of his books within weeks of discovering him. His books are also the only books I can ever remember reading time and time again. Most books get read once and set on the shelf never to be looked through again (this is why I'm such a firm believer in the library, but that's for another blog).

So today when I read that Sophie Dahl, Roald Dahl's granddaughter has just released her first novel, I nearly peed my pants with excitement. Granted, she's not the master himself, but having something new from the Dahl family makes my heart smile in a big way. It brings back all those days of reading when I was a kid, and the excitement of having a new book to read. I'm not sure how much I'll love her book, but I still plan to read it in the near future. I have to give her a try at least.

So, from Amazon, this is the description of Playing With the Grown-ups:

"The full-length debut by the granddaughter of Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal centers on a dreamy, romantic English woman who hasn't quite escaped the thrall of her fabulous mother, Marina. When Kitty, now married, pregnant, and living cozily in New York City with her financier husband, receives the call that her mother has been hospitalized after a breakdown, Kitty flashes back to her magical youth, revolving around her Swedish grandparents' Never-Neverland of a country home, Hay House, shared by her mother and aunts.

"When Marina's guru insists Marina move to New York City to pursue her painting, Kitty eventually joins her on Park Avenue, and her mixed-up adolescence begins. Wearing her mother's clothes, flirting with her handsome boyfriends and swept into parties where her mother chops the cocaine, Kitty comes through a number of charming yet troubling moments, as well as foreshadowings of Marina's future breakdown. There's plenty of texture to Kitty's remembrances, but the result reads more like a fictional memoir than fully plotted novel."