Sometimes journalists ask me, "What's the message?" There is no message. I think that fiction should not be trying to give messages. Just tell a story.

I was born in the middle of World War II, the middle of the Holocaust; I was born when there was no declaration of human rights, when feminism was not an issue, when children were working in factories. I mean, today's world is a better place!

We all have an unsuspected reserve of strength inside that emerges when life puts us to the test.

The one that came really easy was the Japanese lover, because he's like a ghost in the book. He's always in the background like a spirit, like a shadow, almost. There's a very delicate line there.

I'm such a control freak. I want to control even my own death. Decide when I will die and how.

People are afraid of falling in love because they don't want to suffer.

I have a very acute sense of place and time, so all of my stories are rooted in a place and a time.