People’s lives are in the care of the railways when they get on a train. The railways should remember that. Nina Bawden Read Quote
The murder of my husband by the railways has altered the way I think about everything. I had always thought that the majority of people were decent and honourable. In the wake of the crash, what made me angry more than anything else was the realisation that this was not true. I still find it very hard to come to terms with. Nina Bawden Read Quote
There are many times when I think I would have rather died with my husband. It would have been pleasanter, simpler. But it would have been worse for the children and the family in general. Nina Bawden Read Quote
I dislike the word ‘victim.’ I dislike being told that I ‘lost’ my husband – as if I had idly abandoned you by the side of the railway track like an unwanted pair of old shoes. Nina Bawden Read Quote
Adults get more confused by social worker jargon. Unlike children, they are also less likely to see two sides of an argument, and they no longer think they can make the world a better place. That can make them rather boring, I suppose. Nina Bawden Read Quote
But I don’t write about sex for today’s teenagers. Or Doc Martens boots either. I’m more interested in exploring how exactly the world is run, which doesn’t really change that much from one generation to another. Nina Bawden Read Quote
I hope in my books I help children to see their strengths, and show them I have some idea of what they may occasionally be going through. Especially at tricky moments when it is easier to go back and evade things rather than go forwards and confront them. Nina Bawden Read Quote
Life isn’t so complicated for children. They have more time to think about the really important things. That’s why I occasionally moralise in my children’s books in a way I wouldn’t dare when writing for adults. Nina Bawden Read Quote
I grew up on a suburban street with lace curtains and dull neighbours, so I made up stories to tell my friend, in which they became serial killers and burglars. She told her mother, who then told mine. Nina Bawden Read Quote
I met Richard Burton, an RAF cadet on a two-term course. I would have flirted more enthusiastically if it had not been for the horrid boils on the back of his neck. Nina Bawden Read Quote
