One of the key things about the entitlement and power of patriarchy, but also within feminism, is not that it's wilful nastiness. But you can't ask for permission. You can negotiate and you can bring people on board and you can build a base but you can't expect for it to be given.

A biography is never a biography of one person, of course, but the individual life of your protagonist will never conform. It will always bang up against history.

One of the key things about the entitlement and power of patriarchy, but also within feminism, is not that it's wilful nastiness. But you can't ask for permission. You can negotiate and you can bring people on board and you can build a base but you can't expect for it to be given.

For me the fascination with biography is the life of the individual in the context of history.

When you're writing, you're making decisions about compression and the shape of a life, which are very similar to how we experience our inner consciousness.

People don't give up power and privilege out of the goodness of their hearts.

Eleanor Marx was a pragmatic person of actions and deeds and she was an organizer.