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At home, growing up, we weren't really poor. We had everything we needed, we just didn't have what we wanted.

I was afraid of not living up to what people expected me to be.

I grew up in a very modest house. We were poor-we lived on the poverty level. We all got jobs as young kids.

I was very poor when I was young.

I'm terrified of being poor, I always have been. It's growing up as a Methodist. I'll spend that bit of extra money to get a better seat on a train sometimes, because it's quieter and calmer, but I refuse to spend money on clothes.

I'm proud that I've never stopped writing about being poor.

It wasn't poverty that drove me on.

I had a really hard time growing up; we were a large family, and we didn't have much money at home.