I hate the only one of my book jackets when I was made up professionally, my hair made into a smooth bell.

I realize that I had always in my heart of hearts planned to write a biography of Marie Antoinette.

The concentration in my book on Marie Antoinette's childhood and on her family influences. It is surprising how some books actually start with her arrival in France!

Her imperturbable self-confidence (Duchesse de Maine) caused Madame de Stael to write that the Duchesse believed in herself the same way she believed in God, without explanation or discussion.

I love hearing details of writers' craft, as cannibals eat the brains of clever men to get cleverer.

Lives in previous centuries for women are largely a matter of class. It would have been fun to have been a rich, privileged woman in the 18th century, but no fun at all to be her maid.

As long as you persecute people, you will actually throw up terrorism.