Likes America.

Transcript context

…If I understand your life history correctly, you and your husband come from very different status bands in British society. How do you think that shapes the books and biographies you write? We’re both interested in social class, but if you live in England you are, because it permeates everything. Another thing I really love about America is — and I know there is an American class system, I know that — but I’ve always felt very free in America because people don’t judge me by my accent. Whereas in England, you are instantly, or you were instantly, judged by, “Oh, you’re a Northerner. That means that you steal things,” or “You’re a Northerner. That means that you’re stupid.” I’ve never got that in America. My husband and I have always been really fascinated — we come from different classes, different backgrounds, but the great unifying thing for us always was books and literature and art and music and all the things that we have in common. It does shape the writing because I’m interested in people who write about social class — Jane Austen, Evelyn Waugh. Barbara Pym, yes.…

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