I was trying to make a novel about something no one wanted to read about into something they couldn't put down or look away from.

Whenever people say a coincidence in a novel is implausible, I think, Do I have a story for you.

I have lived for a long time inside a series of coincidences that most people would find implausible in a novel.

The myth works to make the very real things people don't want to look at visible for them.

My interest in women's voices started when I was in the boys' choir and we were singing in opera choruses. That was my first close-up experience with the female soprano voice. I was amazed at how it could be within the same scale but so different in quality.

With my family background - my parents were both activists - writing about culture and politics came naturally.

I've been told it's hard to write about singing. I didn't realize that going into it. I might not have tried if I knew!