No, I said. I didn't remember that. There was so much to remember, sometimes the best thing was to forget.

In the event of an oxygen shortage on airplanes, mothers of young children are always reminded to put on their own oxygen mask first, to better assist the children with theirs. The same tactic is necessary on terra firma. There's no way of sustaining our children if we don't first rescue ourselves. I don't call that selfish behavior. I call it love.

I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women, and in need of encouragement to remain true to themselves.

Many women my age have known the experience of giving up crucial parts of themselves to please the man they love.

At Home in the World is the story of a young woman, raised in some difficult circumstances, and how she survives. It tells a story of redemption, not victimhood.

The portrait of my parents is a complicated one, but lovingly drawn.

It troubles me that people speak about writing for money as ugly and distasteful.