There's nothing like your mother's sympathetic voice to make you want to burst into tears.

She was the most beautiful thing you ever saw. She was radiant. And she was wearing this necklace... When you see the necklace in the painting, it all makes sense. He loved her. Even if she lived to one hundred and five without ever getting an answer.

I've never written a children's book, but when people meet me for the first time and I say I write books, they invariably reply, 'Children's books?' Maybe it's something about my face.

My childhood was spent embracing one literary heroine after another. I identified passionately with each one and would slavishly imitate them.

sometimes you don't need a goal in life, you don't need to know the big picture. you just need to know what you're going to do next!

I had gone to Oxford to read music. I had done music all my life, but when I got to college I didn't want to do it anymore.

Emma, I'm sorry, I can't help you. This is a disaster. You're completely vulnerable. It's like going into battle in a nightie.