The whole Melrose series is an attempt to tell the truth, and is based on the idea that there is some salutary or liberating power in telling the truth.

Proust is a hero of mine. I read 'A la recherche' in one go, and I'm a very slow reader. It had an astonishing impact, reading it on my own and being my main company. I think Proust is the most intelligent person to ever have written a novel.

The Booker 2011 is of no more interest to me than the world heavyweight championship, which I'm not going to win either. It's irrelevant.

I'm not trying to uncover the facts of my life but to discover the dramatic truth of the situations I was in.

People never remeber happiness with the care that they lavish on preserving every detail of their suffering.

The whole Melrose series is an attempt to tell the truth, and is based on the idea that there is some salutary or liberating power in telling the truth.

It seems people spend the majority of their lives believing they're dying, with the only consolation being that at one point they get to be right.