Laurie Graham

“There is something very easy about women's friendships that you don't see as often with men. We all know examples of this, when women will just call each other up or drop a line, not with anything specific to say.”

“I was fascinated by the culture clash between England and America in the 1950s. My first memories are of being a girl in those post-war years when things were really pretty grim. It wasn't like that in America, which was real boom time.”

“I've always jealously guarded my feminine mystique. I've been married twice, and neither of my husbands has ever seen me put my face on.”

“People invade your space and offend your sensibilities because, to be plain, they couldn't care less about you.”

“My research process doesn't vary much. I do a little reading to establish a timeline and decide how I'm going to approach the story.”

“I know my parents loved me - they certainly did everything they could for me - but displays of affection were kept on a distinctly low flame.”

“Dementia is quite unlike cancer or heart disease or any of those other conditions where you bargain with God for a cure or even just a bit more time.”

“In grief, after even the happiest of relationships, we go over things again and again.”

“The word 'carer' makes me think of someone with a nylon overall and a long list of 'clients' to wash before she finishes her shift. A companion was something unique. A kind of live-in friend.”

“As one ages, eventually, no matter what regime you've followed, no matter how fiercely you've fought the fight, good health becomes harder to maintain. It may disappear overnight or simply dwindle, but with every year that passes, the odds shorten.”

“The terror dementia sufferers must feel is unimaginable, but the techniques they use to hide their difficulties - the ducking and diving and keeping the world laughing - are perfectly understandable.”

“I have an idea for a story, and if the idea is going to work, then one of the characters steps forward, and I hear her voice telling the story. This is what has happened with all the books I've written in the first person.”

“I love working fictional characters into a piece of history. It plays to my strengths, which are characterization and dialogue, and assists me in my admitted weakness, plot.”