‘The thought of my husband taking time off fills me with sorrow …’

Literary titan Marian, 54, who’s sold more than 35 million copies of her hilarious books, including

Watermelon and This Charming Man, chats to best about having chef Nigella Lawson, 57, as a fan, and how lighting a candle helped her complete her 13th novel. Hi, Marian! What inspired you to write about a couple taking a break from their marriage? Well, I’d been reading about people taking marriage sabbaticals, and it just struck me as a very interesting and awful thing to happen to somebody. I’d hate for it to happen to me! It was sad for me to write because I’ve been married for nearly 22 years, and my husband is so important to me – the thought of him wanting time off fills me with sorrow, really. Have you ever wanted to travel for a while like Amy’s husband Hugh does in The Break? I haven’t, no, and I hope I never do. Himself (Marian’s husband, Tony) climbs mountains twice a year, and I’m really glad he does that for himself. But when he’s gone, I don’t sleep very well and I miss his company. I find the thought of him not coming back excruciating. Do you have any rituals that help you write your hit books? I light a candle. I don’t really know why! It makes me feel like I’m not doing it entirely on my own. You’ve been vocal about hating the term ‘chick lit’, despite being dubbed a queen of the genre. Does the double standard frustrate you? Yes! An example is David Nicholls. His last book,

Us, was long-listed for the Man Booker prize. I do think if he was a woman that wouldn’t have happened. No disrespect to him, he’s a friend of mine, he’s lovely

and his books are lovely, but they’re not dissimilar to mine. Anything that gets done by men gets afforded more respect – and that bothers me on behalf of all women. Do you still get nervous when you have a new book out? I was really nervous with this book, I always am. I always think everybody’s going to hate it! But then Nigella Lawson tweeted about it, so I think, ‘If Nigella liked it, then I don’t need to worry…’ l The Break, published by Michael Joseph, £20

‘Anything that gets done by men gets afforded more respect – and that bothers me on behalf of all women’ Marian Keyes