We are all the heroes and heroines of our own lives. Our love stories are amazingly romantic our losses and betrayals and disappointments are gigantic in our own minds.
My brother married young, and his is the best marriage I know.
I was lucky enough to be fairly quick at understanding what was taught, but unlucky enough not to be really interested in it, so I always got my exams but never had the scholar's love of learning for its own sake.
I've had a good life, full of more success and happiness than I ever expected.
When I was teaching Latin in girls' schools before I became a writer, I didn't much like it if parents would come in and say, 'We'll have less of the Ovid and Virgil and more of the grammar, please.' After all, I was the one in charge. That's how I feel about doctors. You should trust them to do their job properly.
I have been lucky enough to travel a lot, meet great people in many lands. I have liked almost everyone I met along the way.
If you woke up each morning, and immediately dwelt on your ills, what sort of a day could you look forward to?
I am a big, confident, happy woman who had a loving childhood, a pleasant career, and a wonderful marriage. I feel very lucky.
The great thing about getting older is that you become more mellow. Things aren't as black and white, and you become much more tolerant. You can see the good in things much more easily rather than getting enraged as you used to do when you were young.
I thought it must be desperate to be old. To wake up in the morning and remember that you were ancient - and so behave that way. I thought old people were full of aches and pains and horrible illnesses.