“She wondered if she was doomed to be one of those people who spend their lives trying things. She had tried being in a band, writing plays and children's books, she had tried acting and getting a job in publishing.… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
“These words on the screen represented her latest project, an attempt at a series of commercial, discreetly feminist crime novels. She had read all of Agatha Christie at eleven years old, and later lots of Chandler and James M.Cain. There… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
“Good God, 'the elusive thing'. She had reached a turning point. She no longer believed that a situation could be made better by writing… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
Emma was a shocking driver, simultaneously sloppy and petrified, and for the first fifty miles had been absent-mindedly driving with her spectacles on top… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
I still find it absurdly difficult to concentrate on a novel if there's a phone or computer to hand; I have taken to locking… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
You've got to stop letting women slip drugs into your mouth, Dex, it's unhygienic. And dangerous. One day it'll be a cyanide capsule. — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
“He presses two fingers against each eye and attempts to account for this crippling melancholy, but is having trouble with rational thought. It feels… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
“Live each day as if it's our last', that was the conventional advice, but really who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold and to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the… — David Nicholls Copy Share
She was reaching the limits of how much its possible to change a man — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
“How would she fill the days? She had no idea. The trick of it, she told herself, is to be courageous and bold and make a difference. Not change the world exactly, just the bit around you. Go out there with your double first, your passion and your new Smith Corona electric typewriter and work hard at…something. Change lives through… — David Nicholls Copy Share
“What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
Sometimes, when it is going badly, she wonders if what she believes to be a love of the written word is really just a… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
The city had defeated her, just like they said it would. Like some overcrowded party, no one had noticed her arrival, and would notice… — David Nicholls Copy Share Image
