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Pat and Roald
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2025
Man, oh man. Keeping in mind that Patricia Neal experienced a burst aneurysm and stroke while pregnant with her fifth child, and that this book is about her recovery, the writer made some bold choices. I was a bit thrown whenever he inserted himself in the story but I was wildly impressed when he a) referred to Helen Keller as the queen of inspiration porn and b) listed off some of Patricia Neal's career disappointments before spending ample time on Roald Dahl's cozy writing routine and career. He also noted that after having his plane shot down while serving in the Royal Air Force, Dahl became better looking upon having his face reconstructed.
There is a point at which Dahl jokes to Neal that, at 39, due to give birth, she's getting long in the tooth, and that he might find himself a girl who's "not so fossilized." The benefit of reading this decades after the fact is knowing that just a few years after Neal recovered from her stroke, her husband would in fact begin an 11-year affair with his eventual second wife, a woman 12 years younger. He also refers to his kids' nannies as unsettled heifers, at all of 17 and 22--the younger of whom appeals to his "Pygmalion streak," with Dahl claiming "her accent alone was enough to condemn her to a life in the one of the council houses."
Oh, and there's a bit where, while re-teaching Neal to read, Dahl reminds her regularly that "being ill doesn't place you at the center of the universe," while the writer adds, "It was natural enough for an invalid to become an egomaniac, but Pat was no invalid any more and she wasn't going to get away with becoming an egomaniac." I get the impression Neal was desperate to be seen and acknowledged and that Dahl wrote her off as a silly little woman, but maybe I’m reading into the writer’s language and the moments he chose to document? Or maybe Dahl was simply dry humored and it didn’t translate on the page? Roald Dahl’s remained one of my favorite writers of all time, but I came out of this absolutely despising him as a husband.
[Note: what’s with this family’s medical luck? Their son Theo was hit by a car in NY, so they went back to England to get away from cabs, but the lack of vaccines meant their daughter Olivia died from illness shortly after their return. Pat had a stroke while pregnant, and after recovering, Roald had spinal surgery requiring heavy blood transfusions, while Theo broke his arm and Roald’s mother died. This is such a bizarre situation it’s even referred to as their seven years of bad luck. This family seemed to be the opposite of watched over.]
There is a point at which Dahl jokes to Neal that, at 39, due to give birth, she's getting long in the tooth, and that he might find himself a girl who's "not so fossilized." The benefit of reading this decades after the fact is knowing that just a few years after Neal recovered from her stroke, her husband would in fact begin an 11-year affair with his eventual second wife, a woman 12 years younger. He also refers to his kids' nannies as unsettled heifers, at all of 17 and 22--the younger of whom appeals to his "Pygmalion streak," with Dahl claiming "her accent alone was enough to condemn her to a life in the one of the council houses."
Oh, and there's a bit where, while re-teaching Neal to read, Dahl reminds her regularly that "being ill doesn't place you at the center of the universe," while the writer adds, "It was natural enough for an invalid to become an egomaniac, but Pat was no invalid any more and she wasn't going to get away with becoming an egomaniac." I get the impression Neal was desperate to be seen and acknowledged and that Dahl wrote her off as a silly little woman, but maybe I’m reading into the writer’s language and the moments he chose to document? Or maybe Dahl was simply dry humored and it didn’t translate on the page? Roald Dahl’s remained one of my favorite writers of all time, but I came out of this absolutely despising him as a husband.
[Note: what’s with this family’s medical luck? Their son Theo was hit by a car in NY, so they went back to England to get away from cabs, but the lack of vaccines meant their daughter Olivia died from illness shortly after their return. Pat had a stroke while pregnant, and after recovering, Roald had spinal surgery requiring heavy blood transfusions, while Theo broke his arm and Roald’s mother died. This is such a bizarre situation it’s even referred to as their seven years of bad luck. This family seemed to be the opposite of watched over.]
December 30, 2021
When I first picked this up I thought it was a dual bio, but it deals mainly with Patricia's stroke and a couple of years following that. Very interesting, although the inclusion of the narrator's presence is a bit jarring at times.
October 15, 2020
I loved this book. I was especially enchanted by Roald's writing shack. This also includes the story of Pat having her massive stroke. I really enjoyed this.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews