I haven’t had Botox because my face is a bit lopsided and I depend on keeping everything animated so that people don’t notice.

You've recognised a fundamental feature of an addict's life. Maintaining your habit is so important you've no real interest in anything else.

Baking makes me focus. On weighing the sugar. On sieving the flour. I find it calming and rewarding because, in fairness, it is sort of magic - you start off with all this disparate stuff, such as butter and eggs, and what you end up with is so totally different. And also delicious.

I don't like this idea of division: that if you're a clever woman then you've got to be a particular way. Because men don't. Men please themselves.

It was only when the salt water of my tears ran into my cuts and made them sting that I discovered I was crying.

I loved being in my own head so much, it was getting harder and harder being with other people.

The back windows looked out over the fields, then the Atlantic, maybe a hundred yards away. Actually, I'm just making that bit up. I had no idea how far away the sea was. Only men could do things like that. "Half a mile." "Fifty yards." Giving directions, that sort of thing. I could look at a woman and say "Thirty-six C." Or "Let's try it in the next size up." But I had no idea how far away Tim's sea was except that I wouldn't want to walk to it in high heels.