I dislike pastiche; it attracts attention to the language only.

Watching live actors onstage, in something that changes night by night, real people picking up cues from each other, it concentrates you on the process rather than the result.

I used to think that when I set out that doing the research was enough! But then the gaps would emerge that could only be filled by the imagination. And imagination only comes when you privilege the subconscious, when you make delay and procrastination work for you.

As a writer, you owe it to yourself not to get stuck in a rut of looking at the world in a certain way.

I am not a historian. I don't see what I do as being a rival to biography.

I am sure that all politicians seek the home connection with the voter. But [Margaret Thatcher] carried it to extremes.

Imagine the consequences of having the first woman prime minister who is the milk snatcher. [Margaret Thatcher] takes away the nourishment of the nation.