HW
When I got to 40 and realised I hadn’t read all the books I needed to read to understand the world.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 December 2017 source ↗
The question
What disappointment has stayed with you longest?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
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Others on this question
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Eve Ensler
American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist
That most men have not yet come to understand the impact and the devastating consequences of violence against women.
Tom Allen
British comedian
Not understanding myself until I was in my 30s.
When a relationship I’ve been invested in stops working. And yet, here I am, happy as you like.
The years I lost trying to fix my second marriage.
More from Harriet Walter
View profile →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.
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 spent £600 on Rudolf Nureyev’s ballet shoes after he died. He was the biggest idol in my life and influenced me hugely.
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.
Everything. I’ve one of those brains that doesn’t quieten down.
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