YORKSHIRE author Joanne Harris leads her fans a merry dance with this book. Jigs & Reels is not about France or food. It's not even a novel. Instead it is a collection of short stories written over the best part of a decade.

This is not what the legion of fans she established with her third novel, Chocolat, have come to expect, but then again this collection does bear something of a resemblance to Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected.

The author obviously enjoys her short stories with a twist. Some work, some don't, but, for me, the most enjoyable were those where character, not plot, was key.

Faith And Hope Go Shopping, the first of her 22 stories, is a prime example. This tale of two spirited, defiant old ladies escaping from a dreary residential home in pursuit of a fabulous pair of red shoes could easily have tapered off into sentimentality. But it managed to remain uplifting and joyous because of the strength of the characters and the clarity of the writing.

A Place In The Sun and Any Girl Can Be A Candykiss Girl!, on the other hand, rely purely on an obvious twist, leaving the reader feeling short-changed and perhaps even patronised.

Not exactly the Bolshoi of books, but an enjoyable little waltz around the intriguing world of this hugely-popular Huddersfield author.

Updated: 08:40 Wednesday, March 31, 2004