Women's stories have been neglected for so long - unless they were queens. Exploring the history of women is a way of redressing that imbalance.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I started researching history in the 1960s, a lot of women about whom I've subsequently written were actually footnotes to history. There was a perception that women weren't important. And it's true. Women were seen historically as far inferior to men.
I think there are many more stories still to be told about women.
One of the more interesting challenges I face when doing research for my novels is to trace the lives of women who are vital to the narrative and try my best to give them back their voices.
Somebody asked me earlier if I thought it was really important to tell stories about women's struggles. And I said yes, but at the same time, it's also important to tell stories about women's triumphs, women being slackers, women being criminals, women being heroes.
I get quite disappointed that we're still telling stories that I think are problematic in terms of what they're saying about women.
Women writers have been told, forever, that our stories were not valuable. Not as valuable as men's stories about wars, business, power.
Like their personal lives, women's history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.
As a male writer, women are always what men pursue, and their world is always a mystery. So I always tried to present as many views as possible on women's worlds.
I am interested in people living in the margins of society, and I do have a mission to tell the stories of women of colour in particular. I feel we've been present throughout history, but our voices have been neglected.
The audience just doesn't care. They are just as interested in women-centric stories as they are in stories about men.