That element of surprise is what I look for when I am writing. It is my way of judging what I am doing - which is never an easy thing to do.

My publisher, who was so good as a taster and editor, when she became a writer, lo and behold, it was all this feminine tosh.

As a child I knew almost nothing, nothing beyond what I had picked up in my grandmother's house. All children, I suppose, come into the world like that, not knowing who they are.

The ancillary aspect of every British city now is the council estate.

The only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves.

All the details of the life and the quirks and the friendships can be laid out for us, but the mystery of the writing will remain. No amount of documentation, however fascinating, can take us there.

You need someone to see what you've done, to read it and to understand it and to appreciate what's gone into it.