Maggie O’Farrell

I wanted to give it the dignity I thought it deserved.

Yeah, but the book is my baby and always will be.

And the film feels more like maybe a niece or a nephew.

And it never felt at any point like handing it over.

A lot of people said, how was it to hand it over?

And it never felt like that.

It felt like...

More just opening up and inviting others to step inside.

Novelists are such, we're all very much a lone wolf.

And I love that, don't get me wrong.

But it was such an interesting experience to collaborate with so many, but not just with Chloe on the script.

But, you know, when you step on the film set, you realise that actually you're collaborating with hundreds of people.

And everybody on that set is absolutely at the top of their game in whatever their speciality is, whether it's lighting or rigging or costumes or set design or acting.

I think you can't go into the process of adaptation expecting it to be the same as your book because you will be disappointed.

It could never be the same.

It's a completely different medium.

And the language of cinema is so much younger than the written language.

So in a way, it's different, but it needed to be different.

And that's a good thing.

It sits alongside the novel rather than as a replica of it.