You must never believe everything they say about a person. Generally speaking, most of it will be lies, half-truths at best.

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?

Life wasn't about becoming, was it? It was about being.

It's been said that the men in my books have been absent, or weak, or creepy.

Men had no purpose on earth whereas women were gods walking unrecognized among them.

Feminism is such an incredibly awkward word for us these days, isnt it? Not to be feminist would be bizarre, wouldnt it?

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