Usually, ordinary histories don't get the emotional feel of a period. That's what a novel can do.

Within walking distance of any spot on Earth there's probably more than enough mystery to investigate in a lifetime.

Sexism goes so deep that at first it's hard to see; you think it's just reality.

Fiction is ideally suited to re-creating the important emotional aspects of history.

There is still nothing like equality for women in jobs, in family. There's just an awareness that inequality is not acceptable.

My mirror image always had to be interpreted. And for that I sought my reflection in someone else's eyes.

Being alone for a woman is probably much more scary than for a man. I'm all for getting over our fears by facing them head-on.

Everything is connected. There is no such thing as an island, especially in our world, global village, the whole thing. Pollution from way across the ocean circulates in the air.

Many people spend the ends of their lives alone, and probably a lot of years in the middle of their lives, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience the rewards of solitude.

In my books, my idea is always to explore social context and social forces.

One important part of historical recording is to get people of another generation to understand the feelings, the passion that went into social transformation. That's why oral history is so valuable.

Go to where you do not know what you do not know. That is where you will find all your opportunities.

Museums are like the quiet car of the world. It's a place you can come to escape, where there's authenticity, there's uniqueness, there's calm, there's physicality.

Sports will always be important in global culture, and so fashion, as a reflection of cultural trends, will always incorporate influences from sports.

Though life's tuition is always ruinous, inexorably we learn.

They can crack jokes. They can sit back and analyze and criticize and make all the fun they want. But I'm living my life, I'm doing it. What are you doing?

You can count how many seeds are in the apple, but not how many apples are in the seed.

I think, life is miserable.

Cake baking has to be, however innocently, one of the great culinary scams: it implies effort, it implies domestic prowess; but believe me, it's easy.

The first five to six years of my life were spent in and out of the hospital.