'It's a shame that you are not a woman'

Since starting this blog and putting the inside.knowledge@gmail.com eddress in Secrets & Lies, I have enjoyed a pleasing stream of odd emails. It can be a little difficult to know how to respond to some of my foreign readers because I am sure something often gets lost in translation. A case in point would be this email: ‘Tell your illness to go fuck himself, tell your ex girlfriend that she can go to hell. You will write some new excellent book. It's a shame that you are not a woman, a gorgeous black woman, because we could get married.’ If nothing else, I think I am flattered.