Normally I make myself swim, do exercises. For zest I like going to the cinema.

Mary Queen of Scots was my first love, and that is always something special.

My mother, who was quite sharp when I was young, became utterly mild.

I have no plans for a future Jemima Shore mystery, but would write one tomorrow if a good idea came to me.

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

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.

I'm very interested in good and evil and the moral natures of people.