My school friend AL had been living for some time with her family in an old hotel. They had never bothered to convert the building, so there was still an institutional feel around the place.

When I first arrived, AL was being comforted by her sister A. She was wailing that she wanted to throw out her husband, but had no idea how to achieve this. Meanwhile he was refusing to budge.

‘Good luck’, I said. ‘It took my friend five years to get rid of hers’.