She took her cheque demurely and made a brief speech, in which she spoke for all those readers who never travel without a novel on the bus, tube or train, picking up each morning where they left off the night before and showing no relief at the end of a book, only anxiety to get lost in yet another novel.

When Penelope Fitzgerald won the Booker prize in 1979 many were bemused. It was for her book Offshore. She dedicated the win to her people, the readers.

She was one of them.

Lee, Hermione. Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life. United States, Alfred A. Knopf, 2014. pg 272