Everyone said, 'Well, you're very old for a first novel,' and I said, 'How do you write when you haven't lived? How do you write when you have no experience? How do you write straight out of university?

Most people muddled through events and only in retrospect realized their significance.

He was born a politician. No, Ursula thought, he was born a baby, like everyone else. And this is what he has chosen to become.

If they would all sleep all the time she wouldn't mind being their mother.

It wasn't that [he] believed in religion, or a God, or an afterlife. He just knew it was impossible to feel this much love and for it to end.

The great thing about writing compared to life is getting to tie things up.

She doesn't believe in dogs," Bridget said. "Dogs are hardly an article of faith," Sylvie said.