Dear Mom, I am having a wonderful time here. We play soccer every day. Can you imagine, the mattresses have no springs at all... This is how the first letter from nine-year-old Roald to his mother Sofie Magdalene begins, written under the watchful eye of the stern headmaster. For forty years, Roald Dahl will send a letter to his mother every week: a report of his experiences at boarding school and college, his adventures abroad and during wartime, the highs and lows of his life from his youth in Wales to his diplomatic service in Washington, where Dahl meets politicians like movie stars and helps shape the fate of the country. He has no idea that his mother will treasure each of the six hundred letters like a treasure. Sofie Magdalene was Roald Dahl's first reader and critic. She encouraged him to tell stories and.