I think what I was after was a unifying story that could bring everything together, that could give me a sense of the whole of history.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I like the stories with the historical themes.
History is full of really good stories. That's the main reason I got into this racket: I want to make the argument that history is interesting.
When I was a kid, I loved history because history to me was a big story.
Ideas shape the course of history.
Story and plot, not historical facts, are the engine of a novel, but I was committed to working through the grain of actual history and coming to something, an overall effect, which approximated truth.
I feel like history is about going and discovering the great human stories that just are every bit as relevant as anything that's going on today.
I don't sit down in front of my computer screen and think, 'Right. Today I shall begin a story set in this or that period of history.' I just get ideas from the world around me.
The pull of history has been a strong theme in my life as a novelist.
The idea led me into the research, which continues to give me more ideas for the story.
I have always felt that this story is universal. When I began to understand the details of the history, I felt that the most compelling aspect was not what happened, but what continues to happen and how it is denied.