A baby was like a revolution, Grigori thought: you could start one, but you could not control how it would turn out.

In both cases, weakness and scruples had defeated strength and ruthlessness.

What she needs,' Tom said aloud 'is a husband.' Agnes said crisply, 'Well, she can't have mine.

Man who betrayed you once would betray you twice.

Trusting someone was like holding a little water in your cupped hands - it was so easy to spill the water, and you could never get it back.

James Bond is quite serious about his drinks and clothing and cigarettes and food and all that sort of thing. There is nothing wry or amused about James Bond.

I went and looked at one of these great cathedrals one day, and I was blown away by it. From there I became interested in how cathedrals were built, and from there I became interested in the society that built the medieval cathedral. It occurred to me at some point that the story of the building of a cathedral could be a great popular novel.