Katina (A Roald Dahl Short Story)

Nov 22, 2025 6:55 PM

Author:Roald Dahl

Katina is a short, gripping story of life in wartime from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale.

In Katina, Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors, tells of a young Greek girl fascinated by the British planes and airbase that have come to her village.

Katina is taken from the short story collection Over to You, which includes nine other dramatic and terrifying tales of life as a wartime fighter pilot, and is drawn from Dahl's own experiences during the Second World War.

This story is also available as a Penguin digital audio download read by Cillian Murphy.

Roald Dahl, the brilliant and worldwide acclaimed author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and many more classics for children, also wrote scores of short stories for adults. These delightfully disturbing tales have often been filmed and were most recently the inspiration for the West End play, Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales by Jeremy Dyson. Roald Dahl's stories continue to make readers shiver today.

Reviews

Huge, crammed, wise, hilarious and utterly captivating

—— Literary Review

A joyous collaboration of winging humour and sarcasm

—— Mail on Sunday

Naughty but terribly nice

—— Sunday Times

Appallingly funny

—— Daily Telegraph

One of the most brilliant novelists around . . . funny, gripping, wonderfully shrewd

—— Amanda Craig , Independent

Moving seamlessly between characters, she shines light on barely-conscious thoughts and feelings to great, often ironic effect . . . a sympathetic, psychologically acute and thoroughly involving tale

—— Daily Mail

Hugely enjoyable, classic storytelling

—— Red

Ferguson should be better known . . . she draws on years of experience working as a nurse and midwife to produce acute, skilful descriptions

—— FT

'Gleeson's first novel is a supremely juicy - a nd gory - murder mystery centring on the 18th-century workshops of Thomas Chippendale.'

—— The Times

Dodger is a hero who Dickens would love . . . You can't help loving Dodger as he ducks, dives, falls in love and rises in the Victorian world. This is a hero I can't wait to meet again.

—— Amanda Craig , The Times

Much as I love the Discworld series I also enjoy it when Terry Pratchett takes a break and gives his readers something else . . . Pratchett has the ambience of 1840s London spot on

—— Rachel Hyde , www.myshelf.com

Fine plot, excellent characters, and fun to read.

—— Irish Inn Book Club blog

Dodger is an amazing book . . . It creates a great display of historical London, contrasting the above ground cleanliness against the below ground filthy and often-times rotten sewers. Add in a lively set of support characters, funny dialogue, great action, and finish it all off with Dodger, one of the most lovable characters that I have read about.

—— Fantasybookreview.co.uk

Compulsively readable

—— Washington Post

Escape into Pratchett’s humorous and mysterious world and follow Dodger’s infamous trail through a tale where history and fantasy are entwined.

—— Independent School Parent Magazine

Terry Pratchett fans should not miss Dodger, his sassy take on Oliver Twist

—— The Sunday Times

A rollicking good yarn

—— Magpies Magazine

Dodger’s descriptions of the capital, from its slums and sewers to the homes of the middle classes and the bolt holes of the elite, paint a vivid, immersive picture. The attention to detail in both the break-neck storytelling and historical veracity are mightily impressive . . . characters remain as compelling and three dimensional as ever . . . Dodger feels fresh, vibrant and full of energy, a triumph that should be celebrated as yet another glorious gift from Narrativia.

—— SFX

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