Miramax sues Pearson over missing novel

The title of Allison Pearson's successful first novel, about a girl's infatuation with David Cassidy, was I Don't Know How She Does It. Now it's a case of 'We Don't Know What She's Done With It' as Miramax Films demands that Pearson returns the $700,000 they paid her for rights to her second novel after she failed to deliver the book on time.

Miramax filed its suit for breach of contract in New York last Friday, claiming Pearson, a Daily Mail columnist, had ignored requests for information about the book's whereabouts since it was due for delivery in 2006.

The new book, titled I Think I Love You, is described by its British publisher Chatto as being "about love in many forms, but first love in particular, how it shapes us and imprints us." Pearson was unavailable to comment on what's happened to it, but her agent said she believed Pearson would still deliver, adding ominously: "I don't know what deadline she has set herself."