I would not let Nick Cassavetes direct My Sister’s Keeper, the film. He said [the ending] was going to match what was in the book, then changed it.

When I was 17, I was offered a tennis scholarship at the University of Virginia. I wish I had been brave enough to take it.

I would be much more available for my brother when he was not well and try to understand more about mental health, which I didn’t know anything about at the time.

Through food, I’ve become more interested in the protection of soil, the way things are grown, and biodiversity. I’d have become a quantum physicist!

Judith Clark, on whom I based my character in the prison trilogy. She has served over 35 years and turned herself around. She is an inspiration.

I went to a funeral where they played Cheek To Cheek: Fred Astaire singing “Heaven. I’m in heaven… ” Everyone smiled. I’d like that.

When I got to 40 and realised I hadn’t read all the books I needed to read to understand the world.

My mother, because I didn’t appreciate until after she’d gone that she was a vulnerable human being. I just expected her to know everything and be everything.

An actor. When I was really young, I wanted to be a fishmonger’s wife.

I spent £600 on Rudolf Nureyev’s ballet shoes after he died. He was the biggest idol in my life and influenced me hugely.