FAITH, HOPE AND BRENDA

'"Well he and his wife had both been devout evangelicals for a while. They had these two kids and then she had an incredible job giving birth to the next one. The upshot was that she lost her religion - with a vengeance - and walked out on him, taking these three daughters with her. Faith, Hope and Brenda."'

Jonathan Coe, What a carve up! p.149.

LETTERS

'For some reason I have never lost faith, not since I was a young child, in the power of letters to transform my existence. The mere sight of an envelope on my doormat can still flood me with anticipation, however transitory. Brown envelopes rarely do this, it has to be said; window envelopes, never. But then there is the white, handwritten envelope, that glorious rectangle of pure possibility...'

Jonathan Coe, What a carve up! p.155.