‘Rereading Going Solo, I was struck by [Dahl’s] powers as a storyteller: humour, economy, a vivid eye for detail, and that uncanny ability to talk directly to his reader . . . We lived in Dahl’s world, my brother and I more literally than most children since we grew up a couple of miles from Gypsy House, his home in Great Missenden. As we drove past it my parents would always say: “That’s where Roald Dahl lives.” I think I used to doubt them. Could Dahl really live somewhere as prosaic as an ordinary house in rural Buckinghamshire?’
Greetings from 53 Hoxton Square where despite the chill, London is beginning to feel really rather springlike with daffodils dotting the park and cherry blossom scattering the pavements. We recently heard on the literary grapevine that 2026 marks 110 years since the legendary children’s writer Roald Dahl was born. Plans to celebrate are afoot for Roald Dahl Day in September but, with stocks of our own Dahl titles dwindling, we thought we’d mention our limited editions of his two fantastic (and rather fantastical) memoirs Boy and Going Solo which are available individually or as a pair of handsome hand-numbered hardbacks.
Please read on for an excerpt from Henry Jeffrey’s preface to Going Solo, further reading recommendations and exciting news about a new London-based literary festival where SF Editors Gail Pirkis and Hazel Wood will be making an appearance.
With best wishes, as ever, from the SF office staff
Isabel, Rebecca, Edie, Ruth & Jennie
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