And so we stood together like that, at the top of that field for what seemed like ages, not saying anything, just holding each other, while the wind kept blowing and blowing at us, tugging our clothes, and for a moment, it seemed like we were holding onto each other because that was the only way to stop us from being swept away into the night.

I don't have a deep link with England like, say, Jonathan Coe or Hanif Kureishi might demonstrate. For me it is like a mythical place.

There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.

Love isn't about when you first meet. It's about the many, many years you spend together, when you're trying to keep that flame burning.

Even the solitude, I've actually grown to quite like... I do like the feeling of getting into my little car, knowing for the next couple of hours I'll have only the roads, the big gray sky and my daydreams for company.

I cannot start a story or chapter without knowing how it ends. ... Of course, it rarely ends that way.

I wouldn't want to try to adapt something of my own. It would be like going back to school and doing all my exams again.