Need a new pair of shoes because the dog chewed up one of my sandals, so I spent three hours in Hamburg and must have seen two thousand pairs of shoes in the eight different department stores and shoe shops I visited, but nothing that I wanted. I must be the most miserable shopper in the world when it comes to clothing. Now books and chocolate on the other hand…

So, to punish myself for being so stupid at what seems to be so easy for most women (a source of pleasure even!), I went into a bookshop, browsed for half an hour through all the fresh new arrivals whispering promises of exciting hours to come and then walked out without buying anything. I sat in the train feeling like a martyr.