My grandmother could never have written a memoir, so 'The Gravedigger's Daughter' is a homage to her life, and to the lives of other young women of her generation, which are so rarely articulated.

Betrayal is the deepest wound. Betrayal is what remains of love, when love has gone.

Most people who are writers go through periods when they can't write.

I work very slowly. It's like building a ladder, where you're building your own ladder rung by rung, and you're climbing the ladder. It's not the best way to build a ladder, but I don't know any other way.

celebrate while you can

Your punishment if you're a woman. Not loved enough.

The great happiness in life in creativity belongs to amateurs.