I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write, and there are very few of them.

We've made hyper motherhood a measure of female success.

If I get the forty additional years statisticians say are likely coming to me, I could fit in at least one, maybe two new lifetimes. Sad that only one of those lifetimes can include being the mother of young children.

My father expected his first child to be a boy, and when it didn't turn out that way he didn't let the fact get in the way of a good story.

That's really what I want in a leader; I want somebody who's really, really smart.

I think a lot of people, but particularly a lot of women, get to this stage when I'd say they're over 50. We face a lot of hard judgment from the world, we women. If you're a full-time mother, you should be out working. If you're out working, your kids must be being overlooked.

Loss as muse. Loss as character. Loss as life.