Last week was a mildly shitty week. Nothing drastic, just a low-level hum of discontent, with the weather, with people not doing the right thing, with our dead dish-washer.  But today, what a different story. Over the weekend I got two fabulous mentions.  Libby Purves, blessed be her name, in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph described me as ‘our most underrated novelist’.  And as if that wasn’t enough to make any writer’s cup run over, The Sunday Times said I had ‘proved myself to be a delightfully smart and sophisticated historical novelist’  Moi? Yey!

So basically, whatever the rest of this week brings, I can take it.  The dish-washer’s still dead, however.