Maggie O'Farrell
Irish-British novelist
Effervescence in the soul.
What does love feel like?
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this exact standing prompt.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
In some way your life is doubled. You’re you and the other person.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 December 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 218 →
Krishnan Guru-Murthy
British journalist
A chihuahua giving you a cuddle.
Terence Conran
British restaurateur and designer
All-embracing: when you find it, you don’t want to let it go.
Hayley Squires
English actress and playwright
Essential, like oxygen.
More from Harriet Walter
View profile →Everything. I’ve one of those brains that doesn’t quieten down.
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.
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.
I would never have gone on a diet. I would go back with the knowledge that not being perfect is fine.
An actor. When I was really young, I wanted to be a fishmonger’s wife.
More on relationships
Also answered this
Charlotte Church, Fay Ripley, Omid Djalili, Dan Stevens, Katherine Parkinson, Kiefer Sutherland
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All relationships questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject