The English king's power was curbed by Parliament, though that wasn't always a good thing, as politicians often behave no better than monarchs - there are just more of them. — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
In the Middle Ages, I think the French kings murdered slightly fewer of their family members than the English kings, though I haven't actually counted the heads. — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
You've heard tales of beauty and the beast. How a fair maid falls in love with a monster and sees the beauty of his… — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
Rain slips through your fingers as easily as words blow away in the wind, and yet it has the power to destroy your whole… — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
But then, the flames of a fire are not made less painful by the knowledge that others are burning with you. — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
“I'd believed mine was the greatest of all the arts, the noblest of all the lies, the creation of hope. I thought hope could overcome everything, but I was wrong. Hope cannot overcome truth. Hope and truth cannot co-exist. Truth destroys hope. The most savage cruelties man inflicts on man are committed in the pursuit of truth. My last lie… — Karen Maitland Copy Share
“We couldn't bring the sheep back to life, so there was nothing for it but to eat the evidence.” — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
Id love to own Newstead, partly because it belonged to Lord Byron, but also to try to uncover what dark secrets really lie beneath. — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
“I had seen that errible look on a man's face before, on the faces of those being dragged to the gallows. Some scream and plead, some swear and curse, some go serenely, convinced that the open gates of Paradise await them. But the worst, the most chilling, are those who neither fight nor embrace it, but accept it, their faces… — Karen Maitland Copy Share
“King John won't need any persuading that the French have a hand in this. From what I've heard, if a bean gives him a… — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
“Why do mortals think that suffering is a coin with which they can buy justice or salvation? ... life is a steal if you… — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
“They say despair is a terrible thing, but hope is worse: it keeps you shackled for ever, like a dog in a wheel, always… — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
People sense that our reaction to phenomena such as epidemics or religious war is not that different to how we reacted to plagues or… — Karen Maitland Copy Share Image
Home is the place you return to when you have finally lost your soul. Home is the place where life is born, not the place of your birth, but the place where you seek rebirth. When you no longer have to remember which tale of your own past is true and which is an invention, when you know that you… — Karen Maitland Copy Share
