I was brought up in a household where you stood up to be counted.

- Aminatta Forna

War had the effect of encouraging people to try to stay alive. Poverty, too. Survival was simply too hard-won to be given up lightly.

- Aminatta Forna

What ultimately happened is that my country had a war. I think it would be extraordinary, as a writer, not to want to write about that.

- Aminatta Forna

Jung Chang was the first person to tell a grand historical, political story through a personal narrative.

- Aminatta Forna

All liars ... lie to protect themselves, to shield their egos from the raw pain of truth.

- Aminatta Forna

The Watch is a powerful tale, courageous both in concept and creation: an ancient tale made modern, passed through different narrators in extraordina…

- Aminatta Forna

If you want to know a country, read its writers.

- Aminatta Forna