'Their care and attention, setting words on paper, makes you feel that thrill of recognition; you know with certainty that what they write is true.'

Their care and attention, setting words on paper, makes you feel that thrill of recognition; you know with certainty that what they write is true, and you want to do what they do.

'These days it fills me with joy rather than a kind of dread; I've realised that I'll be reading the world for the rest of my life'

The to-read list continues to sit online, every bit as formidable as ever. But these days it fills me with joy rather than dread; I've realised, with a kind of wonder, that I'll be reading the world for the rest of my life.

'I took a page of writing that I felt really good about and put it in a drawer; a week later I took a piece of writing that I felt was really uninspired.'

I took a page of writing that I felt really good about and put it in a drawer; a week later I took a piece of writing that I felt was really uninspired, and put it in the same drawer. I left them there for three months.

'Most of the Victorians I loved have lost their shine too, for me, except George Eliot; her luminous sense of justice and vision distinguish her. '

Most of the Victorians I loved have lost their shine, too, for me, except George Eliot; her luminous sense of justice and vision distinguish her. However, recently Hilary Mantel has begun to supplant her.

'Ever since, at the age of five, I embarked on my career as a compulsive reader, I have been learning what well-crafted writing looks like.'

The best advice a writer can receive comes from reading. Ever since, at the age of five, I embarked on my career as a compulsive reader, I have been learning what well-crafted writing looks like.

'You wonder, will this house and this time one day become your 1930s? Existing only in memory? '

You wonder, will this house and this time one day become your 1930s? Existing only in memory? It's impossible, incomprehensible to you; now it's happened.

'The compulsion to write is paradoxically both a celebration of life, and a protest at its passing; not that I think about this when I'm actually at my desk.'

The compulsion to write is paradoxically both a celebration of life, and a protest at its passing; not that I think about this when I'm actually at my desk with a pen in my hand.

'The Aegean pebble on the desk, the mug with the silly legend, the quiver of blunt pencils, the wonky chair, are vitally important coordinates like the stars to a medieval mariner. '

The Aegean pebble on the desk, the mug with the silly legend, the quiver of blunt pencils, the wonky chair, are vitally important coordinates like the stars to a medieval mariner. The concrete conditions in which I write are important to me.

'Virginia Woolf's fiction explores the inner lives of intelligent women with courage and originality; she searched for, and found, a way of telling a story that was different.'

Virginia Woolf's fiction explores the inner lives of intelligent women with courage and originality; she searched for, and found, a way of telling a story that was different.

'Poetry is a great thing to give a novelist, I think. Very few of the volumes I own are ones I chose for myself.'

Poetry is a great thing to give a novelist, I think. Very few of the volumes I own are ones I chose for myself. A treasured collection is by Harry Martinson, sent me by a friend and colleague which I'd otherwise never have come across.