I am re-reading Henry James as a change from history. I began with Daisy Miller, and I've just finished Washington Square. What a brilliant, painful book.

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!

I am re-reading Henry James as a change from history. I began with Daisy Miller, and I've just finished Washington Square. What a brilliant, painful book.

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

People in my books tend to get their just deserts, even if not at the hands of the police.

The clue to book jacket photography is to look friendly and approachable, but not too glamorous.

I'm glad I was never an heiress.