People's Lives Are In The

People Who Don't Read Seem To Me Mysterious. I Don't Know How They Think Or Learn About Other People. Novels Are A Very Important Part Of Our Education.

I Was Born In A Small Suburb Of Ilford In A Rather Nasty Housing Estate That My Mother Despised. She Had Grown Up In The Country, So When The War Came And I Was Evacuated To Wales She Thought I Was Much Better Off There.

There Are Many Times When I Think I Would Have Rather Died With My Husband. It Would Have Been Pleasanter, Simpler. But It Would Have Been Worse For The Children And The Family In General.

I Hope In My Books I Help Children To See Their Strengths, And Show Them I Have Some Idea Of What They May Occasionally Be Going Through. Especially At Tricky Moments When It Is Easier To Go Back And Evade Things Rather Than Go Forwards And Confront Them.

I Met Richard Burton, An Raf Cadet On A Two-term Course. I Would Have Flirted More Enthusiastically If It Had Not Been For The Horrid Boils On The Back Of His Neck.