Sue Townsend : (4)

" People down on their luck deserve the best: beautiful surroundings and well-paid professional staff to help them out of their difficulties. Why not train thousands more social workers and let them sit in on claimants’ interviews? " - Sue Townsend

" Yes, I hate it when people call me a ‘national treasure’. It takes away your bite and makes you feel like a harmless old golden Labrador. " - Sue Townsend

" I always have this image of a woman running across a desert carrying children, trying to find water and food, not knowing when they’ll get that. And her feet are slashed up from the dry, hard earth… Even when I’m uncomfortable, sometimes in pain, or just cold… I think, ‘Thank God for what I’ve got.’ " - Sue Townsend

" I always wanted to be Jo in ‘Little Women.’ She’s a bit reckless and feckless, always getting into trouble like me. But I’m probably more like Madame Bovary. " - Sue Townsend