Sophie Dahl was apparently the model for Sophie in Roald Dahl's BFG, and with such a talented author for a grandfather it's no surprise that the supermodel has launched her own writing career.

After penning some short stories, Dahl decided to try her luck in the adult market and wrote modern romance The Man With the Dancing Eyes.

The coming- of-age tale Playing with the Grown-Ups is the follow-up, and the paperback has been selling well.

This is the story of Kitty, the daughter of glamorous mother Marina with the model looks.

The novel starts in a country cottage, perhaps based on the Wheatley home where Dahl spent part of her youth, and then flits back and forth between the UK and New York.

Dahl starts the story rather breathlessly in the present tense and rather annoyingly fails to introduce the minor characters properly.

But once I had got over this minor difficulty, I started to enjoy this story of how a teenage girl tries to find her feet in the world and step out of the shadow of her impossibly glamorous mother, who breaks up the family home when she becomes a follower of a religious cult, led by the mysterious Swami-Ji.

Kitty is packed off to boarding school and your heart goes out to the 12-year-old, when she doesn't tell her fellow pupils about her birthday because they have a tendency to pick on her.

Fortunately for Kitty, her mother, who is an artist, has a change of heart about where she should live and summons her to live in her New York apartment.

But it's not long before the Swami decides it would be bad karma for them to stay in the States, so they all head back to England, borrowing a friend's house in Clapham.

Clearly real life is nothing like this, which is what makes Playing with the Grown-Ups such an entertaining, escapist read.

As Kitty grows up, some of her actions resemble her mother's and they share some touching, funny scenes.

As the story of Kitty's strange nomadic childhood progresses, I started to really enjoy this book.

The dialogue is witty, the numerous locations are delicately drawn, and Kitty's emotional state is clearly signposted for the reader but Dahl doesn't lay it on with a trowel.

Despite moments of terrible sadness for Kitty that only teenagers can experience, the mood is never allowed to remain downbeat for too long.

Dahl successfully creates a warm and charming world for Kitty to inhabit, and readers are bound to be entertained as they accompany her on her journey from adolescence to adulthood. Think Catcher in the Rye, Breakfast at Tiffany's, I Capture the Castle or Hideous Kinky and you'll get somewhere close to the mood Dahl creates.

When I started the book, I doubted that Sophie Dahl would be able to show she has inherited her grandfather's storytelling talent but this charming novel exceeded my expectations.

Playing with the Grown-ups is published by Bloomsbury, for £7.99.