Innocence by Roald Dahl is a collection of autobiographical stories about his boyhood and youth. The book consists of five stories titled Boy, Taste, Galloping Foxley, The Landlady and Lucky Break.
The first story Boy tells us about Dahl’s family and childhood and his schooling in Wales and England. It begins with an account of his father, Harald Dahl, a Norwegian who emigrated to Cardiff in South Wales. Harald Dahl’s second wife was a Norwegian named Sophie who bore him four children, the third of which was Roald.
Tragedy struck the family early when Harald’s eldest child, a daughter named Astri died of appendicitis, and Harald died of pneumonia a few months later when Roald was only three years old. Roald’s mother refused to go back to Norway because she had promised her husband that she would fulfill his wish that his children are educated in English schools.
Roald says, “Her husband had always said most emphatically that he wished all his children to be educated in English schools. They were the best in the world, he used to say. He said that there was some kind of magic about English schooling and that the education it provided had caused the inhabitants of a small island to become a great nation and a great Empire and to produce the world’s greatest literature”.
In the story Boy, Roald Dahl gives an interesting and detailed description of his kindergarten and his life in boarding schools in England. The story Lucky Break revolves around his adult life and his work as a British spy during the Second World War and how he became a writer. The book is an interesting read which chronicles Roald Dahl’s adventurous life.
Reviewed by Hannah George