I Started Writing 'brick Lane' When My

I Started Writing 'brick Lane' When My Children Were Two Years And Five Months Old. We Were On Holiday In The North Of England When I Was Overtaken By A Compulsion To Start Writing.

I Guess There's A Sort Of Cycle With Writing Books. There's All The Researching And Then The Imagining And Writing - Which Is The Real Job - And Then There's Always A Period When The Book Comes Out And You Have To Lift Your Head And Venture Out.

I Don't Want To Get Hung Up On What 'people,' That Nebulous Mass, Think About Me. That's The Way To Unhappiness, I Think.

Sometimes I Look Back And I Am Shocked. Everyday Of My Life I Have Prepared For Success, Worked For It, Waited For It, And You Don't Notice How The Days Pass Until Nearly A Lifetime Is Finished. Then It Hits You--the Thing You Have Been Waiting For Has Already Gone By. And It Was Going In The Other Direction. It's Like I've Been Waiting On The Wrong Side Of The Road For A Bus That Was Already Full." P. 265

A New Car Is Not Going To Change Your Life.