[Margaret Thatcher] was always talking about what the prudent housewife should do and what the prudent housewife knew.

[Margaret Thatcher] was always talking about what the prudent housewife should do and what the prudent housewife knew.

'Show up at the desk' is one of the first rules of writing, but for 'Wolf Hall' I was about 30 years late.

Much historical fiction that centers on real people has always been deficient in information, lacking in craft and empty in affect.

You don't get on by being original. You don't get on by being bright. You don't get on by being strong. You get on by being a subtle crook.

As Danton sees it, the most bizarre aspect of Camille's character is his desire to scribble over every blank surface; he sees a guileless piece of paper, virgin and harmless, and persecutes it till it is black with words, and then besmirches its sister, and so on, through the quire.

You think you're writing one historical novel and it turns into three, and I'm quite used to a short story turning into a novel - that's happened through my whole career.