Mrs. Pang was once a nanny for me, and she spoils me the way I imagined kindhearted women would spoil an orphan, loving me for whom I am, exactly the opposite of my mother, whose love I have to earn with great effort and with little success.

Even the most innocent person, when cornered, is capable of a heartless crime.

Chinese people don't care about freedom, but they do care about justice.

What a long way it is from one life to another: yet why write if not for that distance; if things can be let go, every before replaced by an after.

Your characters are always your children. And while you are writing, you're keeping them safe. Now they're ready to go into the world and it's sad. I'm happy with the way the novel came out but all the characters' ending really saddened me.

I think our eyes are trained to look for what we want to see.

Regarding heroism, I grew up in a culture where you learn about heroes and heroines all the time. In a way, when you call someone a hero or heroine, it's the same as calling them a villain.