You can put it another way, of course; you always can.

I'm a complete democrat in terms of who buys my books.

Writers of either gender ought to be able to do the opposite sex-that's one basic test of competence, after all.

When you read a great book, you don’t escape from life, you plunge deeper into it. There may be a superficial escape – into different countries, mores, speech patterns – but what you are essentially doing is furthering your understanding of life’s subtleties, paradoxes, joys, pains and truths. Reading and life are not separate but symbiotic.

The writer has little control over personal temperament, none over historical moment, and is only partly in charge of his or her own aesthetic.

When we fall in love, we hope - both egotistically and altruistically - that we shall be finally, truly seen: judged and approved. Of course, love does not always bring approval: being seen may just as well lead to a thumbs-down and a season in hell.

Some of the freckles I once loved are now closer to liver spots. But it’s still the eyes we look at, isn’t it? That’s where we found the other person, and find them still.