I'm not an historian but I can get interested - obsessively interested - with any aspect of the past, whether it's palaeontology or archaeology or the very recent past. Penelope Lively archaeologyaspecthistorian Change image and share on social
The consideration of change over the century is about loss, though I think that social change is gain rather than loss. Penelope Lively centurychangeconsideration Change image and share on social
I'm writing another novel and I know what I'm going to do after, which may be something more like this again, maybe some strange mixture of fiction and non-fiction. Penelope Lively fictionmixturestrange Change image and share on social
We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance. Penelope Lively choiceconstantlyfoil Change image and share on social
I do like to embed a fictional character firmly in an occupation. Penelope Lively characterembedfictional Change image and share on social
I've always been fascinated by the operation of memory - the way in which it is not linear but fragmented, and its ambivalence. Penelope Lively ambivalencefascinatefragment Change image and share on social
Since then, I have just read and read - but, that said, I suppose there is a raft of writers to whom I return again and again, not so much because I want to write like them, even if I were capable of it, but simply for a sort of stylistic shot in the arm. Penelope Lively armcapableraft share on social
The Photograph is concerned with the power that the past has to interfere with the present: the time bomb in the cupboard. Penelope Lively bombconcerncupboard Change image and share on social
There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest in history. Penelope Lively historyinterestmemory Change image and share on social
We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from. Penelope Lively identitypastsense Change image and share on social