Historical novels, in particular, allow us to relive the past without the neatness of history, and with all the complexity of the present.

The universe had an odd sense of fairness; it took away things one did not want to give up, and then gave things one did not ask for.

There are writers I return to no matter what I'm working on, writers like the South African J.M. Coetzee. He has an ability to make you feel that he is writing for you alone.

A name is precious; it carries inside it a language, a history, a set of traditions, a particular way of looking at the world. Losing it meant losing my ties to all those things too.

Historical novels, in particular, allow us to relive the past without the neatness of history, and with all the complexity of the present.

Thing that was very different for me is that an American child's reading is filled with Americans.

Every book leaves its mark on you. It might leave you hungry for that kind of book or you may be satiated, and you're eager to read something else. It might send you in a completely different direction. I love that about reading.