Paris is certainly one of the most boastful of cities, and you could argue that it has had a lot to boast about: at various times the European centre of power, of civilisation, of the arts, and (self-advertisingly, at least) of love.

When you are writing fiction your task is to reflect the fullest complications of the world

Nature is so exact, it hurts exactly as much as it is worth, so in a way one relishes the pain. If it didn't matter, it wouldn't matter.

That's one of the central problems of history, isn't it, sir? The question of subjective versus objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of the historian in order to understand the version that is being put in front of us.

This was long before the term 'single-parent family' came into use; back then it was a 'broken home'.

Start with the notion that yours is the sole responsibility unless there's powerful evidence to the contrary

To own a certain book - and to choose it without help - is to define yourself.