'A grounding in contextual fact transformed my own book, and Beryl Bainbridge went on to be shortlisted for the Booker in 1998 for Master Georgie.'

A grounding in contextual fact transformed my own book, and Beryl Bainbridge went on to be shortlisted for the Booker in 1998 for Master Georgie, the novel she was writing at the time of our conversation.