Unknown (main narrator, possibly Aaron Tracy)

Once his first two books become these phenomenons, Dahl puts the sophisticated, snobby New Yorker readership in his rear view.

Dahl gets that old confidence back and quickly decides he's not going to settle for just being a working children's writer.

He's going to be the greatest there's ever been.

At home, his wife Patricia Neal is still recovering from her strokes.

Thanks to Dahl's aggressive rehab, she's doing better than even her most optimistic doctors thought possible.

Dahl can finally ease up as her drill sergeant, but there's been a noticeable trade-off.

All this time serving as her disciplinarian has eroded any last romance that remained in their marriage.

And this lack of romance is a problem because Dahl's passion for his new work and his new success can't be contained to the page.

It's spilling into every corner of his life, desperate to burst out like slivers of light through open blinds.

And that's when Felicity Crossland enters the picture.

For My Heart Podcast, Imagine Entertainment, and Parallax, I'm Aaron Tracy, and this is The Secret World of Roald Dahl.

Episode 6.

Dahl is 56 years old.

Felicity, or Lissy as she's known to friends and family, is 33.

According to writer Nadia Cohen, Felicity is stunningly beautiful with striking dark hair.

She had married young and already had three children by the age of 25.

For work at this time, Felicity is a set designer on commercial shoots.

She comes to Dahl and Neil's house because Neil is making a commercial for Maxim's Coffee.

It's about all the acting Neil can handle as she gets her health back.

Quick aside for a very weird anecdote.