As fog causes chaos at Britain’s airports I sit here wondering if I will ever fly again. It’s become such a nightmare that whenever I go back to England I take the train. If I can’t take the train I don’t go. You are treated like a criminal from the mo …

It’s Frank’s funeral on Friday. I have been trying to explain to the children that he is dead and will be cremated. His wife Virginia will scatter his ashes from their house in a hamlet close to ours. Bea is very practical about it and seems to have ta …

“What is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without any pictures?” I felt rather like Alice last night after watching the French thriller Hidden. “What is the point of a film,” I thought, “if you don’t know what the hell is going on?” Hidden has had r …

Not only is my rating way down but some poor woman has bought the US version of Two Lipsticks and a Lover (called All you need to be impossibly French) thinking it was a sequel. She is understandably furious and calls the book a “con”. Not a great revi …

My friend Frank died this morning. He had been ill with cancer for several years so we were all expecting it. But it is so much sadder than I imagined it would be. I suppose the reason it’s so sad is that Frank was so special. Everyone thinks their fri …

My amazon rating is holding up very well in the UK but sliding slightly in the US. This is notwithstanding a charming review by a C. Farley from Bakersfield in California who loves the book. Great taste those Californians. But amazon has paled into ins …

It’s that time of year again. Most of my friends are wandering around in a haze of alcohol; either drunk or horribly hungover. Me, I am polishing my halo as I turn down a second Christmas party this season to stay at home and watch my son (pictured her …

Two Lipsticks and a Lover came out in the US a week ago and Penguin is already reprinting which is great news. It has also made it to the top 10 ‘health & wellness’ books sold there. Sounds like rather a namby-pamby category but any top 10 feels good t …

The other reason my amazon rating is doing so well this week is that on Sunday Ciao Bella was listed in the top five memoirs of the year in the Sunday Times. I had no idea this was going to happen and in fact was just complaining to my husband that I w …

Things are looking up. Today an interview I did for Woman’s Hour was broadcast and my amazon rating shot up. Let’s hope it has the same effect in the shops. But as my husband points out, I’m still out-selling Proust by about 350,000 so all is not lost. …