Samantha Ellis

I was too late for those Seventies consciousness-raising groups, where women went round in the circle, telling their stories and being listened to. If I ever tried to take Scarlett to such a group, she'd be bored out of her mind and probably cause a riot, but sometimes I think she and Melanie and Greer and Isadora and Mira are my group, my circle. They helped me, anyway, see that part of being able to, as Nora Ephron so brilliantly put it, "be the heroine of your life, not the victim" is not allowing anyone else to define you, which means coming up with your own definition. Which means knowing yourself. As Melanie does and Scarlett doesn't: that's her sorrow.

I was too late for those Seventies consciousness-raising groups, where women went round in the circle, telling their stories and being liste...

Being single would mean taking responsibility for enjoying myself, not waiting to be entertained, or trying to live my life by entertaining someone else.

Being single would mean taking responsibility for enjoying myself, not waiting to be entertained, or trying to live my life by entertaining ...

I wanted to imagine and I didn't want to stop. Sometimes I think I become a writer so I would never stop.

I wanted to imagine and I didn't want to stop. Sometimes I think I become a writer so I would never stop.