I suppose the best thing about life is the challenges it throws up. And if you had any idea quite how hard it might be, you would be tempted to say no. So maybe sometimes better not to know.

Last weekend in the one of the most surprisingly lovely churches in the city of Brighton a group of women – and a couple of intrepid men – got together to put on a mad adaptation of Scared Hearts: an attempt to abridge the novel for three voices (myself included) and highlight the fabulous music which the ...