“What if this present were the world's last night' she said. 'The word present makes all the difference, don't you think? It… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
“He smelled of cloves and pipe tobacco and had a twinkly look about him as if he were going to toast muffins… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
Why is everything an 'adventure' with you?" Sylvie said irritably to Izzie." "Because life is an adventure, of course." "I would say… — Kate Atkinson Adventure Copy Share Image
“Ursula found it very odd to think that up above them there were German bombers being flown by men who, essentially, were… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
“It wasn't fair, he thought peevishly. "Who said life was fair?" his father had said to him a hundred times. He had… — Kate Atkinson Life Copy Share Image
Sometimes I would like to cry. I close my eyes. Why weren't we designed so that we can close our ears as… — Kate Atkinson Cry Copy Share Image
“Sweet sixteen," Hugh said, kissing her affectionately. "Happy birthday, little bear. Your future's all ahead of you." Ursula still harbored the feeling… — Kate Atkinson Happy birthday Copy Share Image
I need to be very isolated to write, and unfortunately isolation is often quite difficult to find. My ideal writing environment would… — Kate Atkinson Country Copy Share Image
I was on the verge of something numinous and profound and in one more second the universe was going to crack open… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
Jennifer had never liked the pain of remembering what had happened, but for Theo it was the pain that kept Laura alive… — Kate Atkinson Alive Copy Share Image
A novel and its writer are inseparable: you are your books. A play's not like that at all. 'Abandonment's not mine -… — Kate Atkinson Abandonment Copy Share Image
I think you have to learn for yourself how to write. I'm slightly mystified by creative writing courses - God love them… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
“Ursula had grown rather callous about George Glover’s lungs, she had heard so much of them that they seemed to have a… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
“Personally, I don’t think it right to make up things about real people—although I suppose there’s an argument for saying that once… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
I don't have goals when writing books, apart from getting to the end. I have rather vague ideas about how I want… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
“Dr. Kellet himself wore a three-piece Harris tweed suit strung with a large gold fob watch. He smelled of cloves and pipe… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
When I'm writing, my neural pathways get blocked. I can't read. I can barely hold a conversation without forgetting words and names.… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
I'm trying to take more nothing time - and that means sacrificing doing. It's partly to do with age, partly to do… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
“I was distracted suddenly from these pleasant thoughts by noticing that, like the eyes in certain portraits, Heather’s nipples seemed to have… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
Julia's vocabulary was "chock-full" of strangely archaic words - "spiffing," "crumbs," "jeepers" - that seemed to have originated in some prewar girls'… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
“Ursula craved solitude but she hated loneliness... At work, they regarded her as a person apart... They imagined there must be more… — Kate Atkinson Dark horse Copy Share Image
