The only way to write a book, I’m fond of telling people, is to actually write a book. That’s how you write a book.

In more static societies, like Ireland, you can tell where a person is from by their surname, or where their grandparents are from.

People whose lives are upside down often read fiction. When you're not sure where you'll end up or how you are going to be, and you're looking for some way forward, fiction is a great friend.

I am a trembling mess from hip to knee. There is a terrible heat, a looseness in my innards that makes me want to dig my fists between my thighs. It is a confusing feeling - somewhere between diarrhoea and sex - this grief that is almost genital.

I think young children in the Western middle classes are objects of incredible anxiety.

Nothing had happened yet in my life except the need to get out of it.

If you grow up in Ireland and read books then you really are obliged to attempt your own some time. It is not exactly a choice. I still don't know if I am a writer. Believe me, there are days when I have my doubts.