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I left Venice feeling inspired. Why not slick on a red lipstick? Why not try wearing something a little more coordinated for the sake of fashion?

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Venice, Italy. Wine, siestas, pasta, canals, lagoons, romance, shall I go on? Italians seem to know what’s up. I feel like they’d put red wine in their cereal and I’m not above that.

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We don’t know their stories, why they’re homeless, or what series of events brought them to this point, but anyone who spends a night on the streets, deserves a coffee in my book.

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With no connections to each other’s life, we could talk about anything, so I told him all about my boyfriend of 10 months – how I loved him but felt restless and how the sex was good but not intense enough.

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I really want you to know why I am the way I am.

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Norwich is a born storyteller with a narrative gift and very considerable charm. It may just be that his own beloved nanny told him what Nancy Mitford’s told her before pushing her into a room full of people: “Remember, you are the least important person in that room.”

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Muriel Spark (1918-2004), Edinburgh born and bred, became one of the twentieth century’s most distinguished writers. Spark was a feisty, outspoken, independent woman who made it on her own – no family money, no university education, no man to “depend” on – nothing but abundant talent, extraordinary perseverance, and singular dedication to craft.