Maeve Binchy

If you're going on a plane journey, you're more likely to take one of my stories than 'Finnegan's Wake.'

That's the kind of motif I bring to the books - that people take charge of their own lives.

I wore miniskirts in the days when no fat girls should have, and with total delight.

I was fat, and that was awful because when you're young and sensitive, you think the world is over because you're fat.

We're nothing if we're not loved. When you meet somebody who is more important to you than yourself, that has to be the most important thing.

I had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you're going to be an Irish writer.