Sophie Dahl: The Man With The Dancing Eyes

Reviewed by MARGIE THOMSON


Supermodel and granddaughter of Roald, Sophie Dahl has made her first attempt at fiction and I thought it pretty awful: slight, self-indulgent and pretentious, a love story for adults told in a childlike way, which hints at meaning more than it actually does.

"In the golden half-light of a midsummer's evening, the sort where any kind of magic can occur, and often does, in the midst of a party held in a wild and rambling garden, stood Pierre, teetering on highly unsuitable heels, surrounded by a symphony of overripe roses," it begins.

The androgynously named Pierre is about to fall in love with "the man with the dancing eyes", whose "wooing was legendary and Byronic in style".

They are blissful until an undisclosed indiscretion occurs, and Pierre moves to New York, but can't forget her lover.

This book has often been described as charming but I think it's just the packaging that makes it so: it's a small, smart hard-cover with lovely ink drawings by Annie Morris, which have very much a Quentin Blake-ish feel to them. I'm sure Roald would have approved of that.

Pictures by Annie Morris

(Bloomsbury $36.95)