My partner was doing a play in Hong Kong last year and I went to visit him, and I bought him a beautiful teacup. But I didn’t look at the price tag before I took it to the till and it was £100, the most expensive teacup imaginable.

A case of Chateau Margaux 59.

Perfume for the wife, and the Jaguars. They were always secondhand. I have had every kind except the E-Type.

I am a major shoe queen.

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.

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

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.

In some way your life is doubled. You’re you and the other person.

Everything. I’ve one of those brains that doesn’t quieten down.

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