Some of the most important lessons I've learned have been from stumbling, and I am deeply grateful that my parents allowed me to fight my own battles..

I did not read from a sense of superiority, or advancement, or even learning. I read because I loved it more than any other activity on earth..

You're like a cake when you're young. You can't rush it or it will fall, or just turn out wrong. Rising takes patience, and heat..

When I'm falling, my girlfriends are my soft landing..

We're tortured, a lot of us, believe me..

A writer is always working with whatever she's managed to store in the brainpan or puzzle out about the world..

I'll tell you the truth - I went to a women's college, Barnard, the most selective college for women in America today. If there's one thing I came ou….

I went to a women's college. ... it was a little like learning to swim while holding on to the side of the pool; I didn't learn the arm movements unt….

London opens to you like a novel itself. [...] It is divided into chapters, the chapters into scenes, the scenes into sentences; it opens to you like….

I know a lot and have written a lot and have thought a lot about motherhood..

We are awash in the revealed world..

It's important to remember that feminism is no longer a group of organizations or leaders. It's the expectations that parents have for their daughte….

Grief remains one of the few things that has the power to silence us..

For most of my adult life, I have been an emotional hit-and- run driver--that is, a reporter. I made people like me, trust me, open their hearts and ….

I always wanted to be a fiction writer, but I couldn't figure out how you could be a novelist and make any money, which continues to be a problem for….

For most of my life the only ceremonies I've been to at which women were the stars were weddings. So I like weddings..

I do think there's some aspect of being a novelist that is a little crazy making..

There is a lot of talk now about metal detectors and gun control. Both are good things. But they are no more a solution than forks and spoons are a s….

Sometimes we don't see out of our peripheral vision what's coming right around the corner..

I always have music on unless I'm reading aloud, which I always do before I hand anything in. It's the only way to know if a sentence really works, w….

In a democratic society, the only treason is silence..