I think novelists, when they write their books, end up having occasionally serving a purpose and playing roles that they never really fully either intended or even understood.

Whether you do something or decide to do nothing, either way, you are making a moral choice. And I hope people make the right one.

I came to the US as an immigrant and I recall vividly those first few years in California, the brief time we spent on welfare, and the difficult task of assimilating into a new culture.

I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us.

The things that have always drawn me to the craft of writing is character, it's story, it's something that becomes like a pebble in my shoe, a voice that I just can't get rid of, and I've got to see it through.

Without women taking an active role in Afghan society, rebuilding Afghanistan is going to be very difficult.

All my life, she gave to me a shovel and said, Fill these holes inside of me, Pari.