I've ended up feeling fonder of 'The Paying Guests' than of any of my other novels.

She wished for a moment that they were all children again. It still seemed extraordinary to her, that everything had turned out the way it had.

I love research. Sometimes I think writing novels is just an excuse to allow myself this leisurely time of getting to know a period and reading its books and watching its films. I see it as a real treat.

The early '20s were like the waist of an hourglass. Lots of things were hurtling toward it and squeezing through it and then hurtling out the other side.

It ended up feeling like a choreographed dance.

Have some carrots. They're good for your eyes."
"Then you have some fries. They're good for your... I don't know. They're just good.