Why did Martin and Reka split up in the end?

I am not certain. Maybe the fire just went out. I know he liked to drink a fair bit. I’m also aware Reka felt a bit troubled by the close friendship he maintained with his previous partner, Christine Chagford, which definitely rekindled when Reka and Martin moved back to Devon, although I think it was just friendship and I know Reka liked Christine a lot too, was even a little obsessed with her in some ways. Apparently when Martin was dying it was Christine who stopped her entire life just to care for him.

What about Thomas Molland? Why did Reka break up with him?

I seem to remember her official explanation was he was just a narcissistic cunt.

What about you? Will you be in the book?

I think I will keep myself out of it.

But you are her great-granddaughter, and massively influenced by her work! You said it yourself just now: you got very close to one another. You have a bunch of her most cherished possessions in your house. The 7-inches. They’re each worth close to £500,000 now. You could buy a beach hut up north with that. A good one, with a door and everything. And then there’s the painting, and that freaky old doll she owned.

Yes, but I was also a slightly sore point for her, or rather my grandma was. She gave her away and tried her best to move on from that, as agonising as that must have been. And she knew my great-granddad for all of five minutes, at a time when she was enjoying her young life, taking control of her own decisions. If I hadn’t done my research and tracked her down she would have gone on in blissful ignorance of my existence. So, however she felt about my company, I was always an unwelcome reminder of a hard and reluctant decision early in her life that she had tried to put behind her.

But she did adore you, viewed you as a protégé, and gently but emphatically encouraged you to become who you are, artistically.