“ She was convinced the country was about to succumb to revolutionary socialism. Her own circumstances encouraged this belief: just on the edge of the really rich country set, she shared their views and… James Robertson
“ Walking through a deserted city in the hours before dawn is sobering way beyond the undoing of the effects of alcohol. Every thing is familiar, and everything is strange. It's as if you are the only s… James Robertson
“ The wide world was changing, and she wanted a different place in it.Not just wanted, but felt she deserved. If the world didn't owe her a living, as her mother repeatedly warned her, it owed her a bre… James Robertson
“ There is something hugely civilised about allowing long pauses in a conversation. Very few people can stand that kind of silence. James Robertson
“ [M]ost people go through life a wee bit disappointed in themselves. I think we all keep a memory of a moment when we missed someone or something, when we could have gone down another path, a happier o… James Robertson
“ I stood staring to heaven and nothing came from there, no mercy or redemption. Whatever had come had come already and it was not sent by God. I stood, arms outstretched and empty, like a man praying b… James Robertson
“ Our ability to look back on the past, our need or desire to make sense of it, is both a blessing and a curse; and our inability to see into the future with any degree of accuracy is, simultaneously, t… James Robertson
“ People think we didn't have theatres in Scotland for centuries because the Church suppressed them. Well, perhaps. But you could also argue that we had theatres in every town and village in the land: t… James Robertson
“ I prefer the pen. There is something elemental about the glide and flow of nib and ink on paper. James Robertson
“ Trust the story ... the storyteller may dissemble and deceive, the story can't: the story can only ever be itself. James Robertson
