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I realized relatively early on that I had no desire to be a mother whatsoever. I actually love children, but specifically other people's.

I had such a great mom and I know that I'd never be that mom. I wouldn't want to bring a child into this world unless I could be.

My role models were childless: Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, George Eliot, the Brontes.

A baby! I hated babies. I, who for two and a half years had been the center of a tender universe, felt the axis wrench and a polar chill immobilize my bones. I would be a bystander, a museum mammoth.

But I'd made up my mind early on in life that I never wanted to be a mother.

Paris Singer had vastly more to do with shaping my character than Mother had; although Mother made innumerable sacrifices for me, and Paris Singer made none. I wanted to be like him.

I had a very strong-willed mother, who I totally adored. She was always in control of her life.

My mother was a domestic goddess and Mother Earth figure. She was sweet and placid - just what the perfect wife was supposed to be and I was determined not to be.

I actually got a nice surprise about being a mother because I expected it to be harder and to have to make more adaptations.