Most people are too tied up in their own concerns to take any real interest in how others look and behave. Before you became a writer, you were a teacher. Your books often have strong characters who are teachers like Signora in Evening Class . In the United States, there has been much debate recently about imposing standardized testing to determine a teacher's qualifications. I think that while we must ensure that all our teachers are well informed and able to communicate what they teach in the clearest and simplest way, we always remember the teachers who were quirky, unusual personalities in their own right, who fired up enthusiasm and opened our minds to laughing more.
Good teachers believe that their pupils can do anything.
When I was at school, we had a teacher like that, and in my books there are always good, wise teachers turning up from time to time. In my own teaching days, I taught Latin, which the girls hated at the beginning, but I made it my dream to make them love it and believe they understood it, and to this day they tell me that they remember my classroom lessons of over thirty years ago, which gives me huge pleasure. I have been very lucky indeed, since Circle of Friends was a delightful movie with two engaging and handsome young stars, Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver, to bring my characters to the screen. Television versions of Echoes and The Lilac Bus were also excellent. There are at present several negotiations going on with studios about Evening Class and Tara Road , and I am sure they will work out well too.