Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Lionel Shriver when she came to the Library to present the French translation of her novel So Much for That. It was an amazing evening and a thrill to be able to talk to her about libraries, women writing fiction, and book reviews (she has written hundreds). Hope that you will enjoy this mini interview today!

What took you to London?

I ended up there by accident. I’d been living in Belfast for 12 years–where I also ended up in some ways by accident, having arrived in 1987 to set my third novel there, but by 1999 on novel-number-seven I no longer had that excuse. My then-partner had himself put up with Belfast for six years, for me, and when he got a job in London I owed him the accommodation of coming with. Although I don’t have that excuse now, either, since said partner has long since gone his own way.

What keeps you there?

Habit. An entrenched home-away-from-home sense of comfort. A deep, infuriating familiarity (I’m much more conversant with British politics than I am with American ones). Dairy products.

What books are on your nightstand?

“The Flame Alphabet” by Ben Marcus, which I’m reviewing for the Washington Post. “Mr. Bridge” by Evan S. Connell, which I’ve just reread because I’m writing an introduction for Penguin Classics. “Mrs. Bridge,” because I wanted to read both these companion volumes for the intro, but also because rereading “Mr. Bridge” was so delightful that I wanted more. “The Innocents” by Francesca Segal, a young woman I met at the Guardian First Book Prize recently; she knew how much I loved the novel that her own is modeled on, Edith Wharton’s “The Age of Innocence,” and sent me a proof. Ergo, writers, hypocritically, almost never buy books.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

Get on with it.

What advice would you give to beginning writers?

Get on with it.

What’s next?

Fat. My new novel is about obesity.

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