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‘Writing is admired these days, admired and envied'

4 February 2002

'Writing is admired these days, admired and envied. Even people who have cast-iron careers in other fields (politicians, movie stars, tennis players) seem to need to write a book, seem to feel driven to leave behind this particular little monument, this testament to the way they thought and spoke - or wish to have been seen to think and speak. But what they forget... is that the writers who last, the writers whose writing is indeed their monument, not only have an essential benevolence, a fundamental affection for the human race, but also, more uncomfortably, possess a hefty does of humility.'

Joanna Trollope, writing in the Sunday Times about writing fiction