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

In the end, it is my belief, words are the only things that can construct a world that makes sense.

You can step in the same river but the water will always be new.

I spent four years doing a doctorate in postmodern American literature. I can recognize it when I see it.

Patricia embraces me on the station platform. 'The past is what you leave behind in life, Ruby,' she says with the smile of a reincarnated lama. 'Nonsense, Patricia,' I tell her as I climb on board my train. 'The past's what you take with you.

They said love made you strong, but in Louise's opinion it made you weak. It corkscrewed into your heart and you couldn't get it out again, not without ripping your heart to pieces.

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?