As the Dauphine stepped out of her carriage on to the ceremonial carpet that had been laid down, it was the Duc de Choiseul who was given the privilege of the first salute. Presented with the Duc by Prince Starhemberg, Marie Antoinette exclaimed: 'I shall never forget that you are responsible for my happiness!

I can't read historical fiction because I find the real thing so much more interesting.

[In 16th century European society] Marriage was the triumphal arch through which women, almost without exception, had to pass in order to reach the public eye. And after marriage followed, in theory, the total self-abnegation of the woman.

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

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

That is my major concern: writers who are in prison for writing.

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