Jennifer had never liked the pain of remembering what had happened, but for Theo it was the pain that kept Laura alive in his memory. He was afraid that if it ever began to heal she would disappear.

Not being published would be great. When I say that to other writers they look at me as if I'm totally insane.

Alternate history fascinates me, as it fascinates all novelists, because 'What if?' is the big thing.

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

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.

Sometimes,' Sylvie said, 'one can mistake gratitude for love.

My father was an autodidact. It wasn't a middle-class house. Shopkeepers are aspirant. He paid for me to go to private school. He was denied an education - he had a horrible childhood. He got a place at a grammar school and wasn't allowed to go.