She might be furious at such things, jealous too on a purely human level; but she would never consider that the position of mistress could or would be converted into that of wife. That to Isabella – or her daughter – was quite unthinkable.
The clue to book jacket photography is to look friendly and approachable, but not too glamorous.
I decided as usual that justice lay in the middle – that is to say nowhere.
Lives in previous centuries for women are largely a matter of class. It would have been fun to have been a rich, privileged woman in the 18th century, but no fun at all to be her maid.
My advantage as a woman and a human being has been in having a mother who believed strongly in women’s education. She was an early undergraduate at Oxford, and her own mother was a doctor.
I think there’s a tremendous split between people who’ve been through a war and people who haven’t.
People in my books tend to get their just deserts, even if not at the hands of the police.
Normally I make myself swim, do exercises. For zest I like going to the cinema.
Ninety-seven is my lucky number.
My mother, who was quite sharp when I was young, became utterly mild.
My mother was a politician in my formative years.
Mary Queen of Scots was my first love, and that is always something special.
King Charles II liked women’s company and well as making love to them.
If I write that it was a cold day, you can be sure I know it was a cold day because Pepys told us.
The concentration in my book on Marie Antoinette’s childhood and on her family influences. It is surprising how some books actually start with her arrival in France!
I’m very interested in good and evil and the moral natures of people.
I think there has been a great deal of valuable revisionism in women’s history.
I hate the only one of my book jackets when I was made up professionally, my hair made into a smooth bell.
I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all. marie antoinette.