Maeve Binchy

I discovered that men were just like everyone else, really. They liked you if you were good-tempered and easy to talk to. And being a big girl meant other females trusted you more and confided in you.

I was very pleased, obviously, to have outsold great writers. But I'm not insane - I do realise that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation.

I do realize that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation. I'm an escapist kind of writer.

I was fat, and that was awful because when you're young and sensitive, you think the world is over because you're fat.

We're nothing if we're not loved. When you meet somebody who is more important to you than yourself, that has to be the most important thing.

Because I saw my parents relaxing in armchairs and reading and liking it, I thought it was a peaceful grown-up thing to do, and I still think that.

I'm an escapist kind of writer.

I was very pleased, obviously, to have outsold such great writers. But I'm not insane - I do realize that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation.

My father went to work by train every day. It was half an hour's journey each way, and he would read a paperback in four journeys. After supper, we all sat down to read - it was long before TV, remember!

I have an irregular heartbeat, so that means a fair amount of medication - and I have blood pressure pills, too, but no vitamins or supplements.

I'm mainly an airport author, and if you're trying to take your mind off the journey, you're not going to read 'King Lear.'

If you're going on a plane journey, you're more likely to take one of my stories than 'Finnegan's Wake.'