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.

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

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.

Ursula craved solitude but she hated loneliness, a conundrum that she couldn’t even begin to solve.

Sylvie's knowledge, like Izzie's, was random yet far-ranging, 'The sign that one has acquired one's learning from reading novels rather than an education.

Oh, God. What was happening to her, she was turning into a normal person.

Love was the hardest thing. Don't let anyone ever tell you different.