Within walking distance of any spot on Earth there's probably more than enough mystery to investigate in a lifetime.

I see old age not as something to hide from or dread (though there is much to oppose in the usual treatment of the old) but rather as something to embrace as the natural and inevitable end.

In my books, my idea is always to explore social context and social forces.

Our society has very much limited our choices, even regarding the food we think acceptable.

Usually, ordinary histories don't get the emotional feel of a period. That's what a novel can do.

Ever since Freud, being alone has been considered something of a psychological failure. The point, according to Freudian theory, is to be able to love and connect. But I don't believe that at all. I think that being alone and being coupled and being in a group are all natural states in which people can thrive.

Sexism goes so deep that at first it's hard to see; you think it's just reality.