Then I found books that were written much later, as late as 15 years ago. It was very superficial material, but enough to tell me that the genesis of this story was worth exploring.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It had been startling and disappointing to me to find out that story books had been written by people, that books were not natural wonders, coming of themselves like grass.
I wanted to hold onto and exploit the power of narrative. This is not only a book about a great storyteller, but there have to be stories about the storyteller.
To me, at forty-four years old, my book was a search for truth and identity.
I was just fascinated with how everyone else in the world lived, and I was interested in telling their story.
In my younger days, I was trying to write sophisticated prose and fantastic stories.
In 1965, when I was fourteen, I read my first adult novel; it was a historical novel about Katherine of Aragon, and I could not put it down. When I finished it, I had to find out the true facts behind the story and if people really carried on like that in those days. So I began to read proper history books, and found that they did!
When I was young, I assumed that authors must have traveled the world or done exotic things in order to tell great stories.
I still feel, as I did when I was six or seven, that books are simply the best way to experience a story.
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.
Fiction came quite a while later. I began with short stories and fiction for children.