I think I have a very detailed sense of observation. I am interested in the details of people's lives and what information these details give.

My parents came from different backgrounds. My father's was grander than my mother's, so my mother had... to put up with the disapproval of my father's relations.

One of the great injustices in fiction is that on the whole people with romantic yearnings have romantic faces. But in real life it's not always like that.

Plenty of friendships are sustainable through dinners and lunches, but will not stand a week away. So be careful with whom you go on holiday.

There are many nations that have perfected a particular room. You know, you have the French drawing-room, the Austrian ball room, the German dining room, and I think the library is a room the English get right.

The movies are funny, in one way, because you think of everyone being as beautiful as the dawn, but that isn't true.

When you are desperate to get someone who isn't all that interested in you, you lay siege as hard as you can.