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
I have had to empty two family homes during the last few years - first, the house that had been my grandmother's since 1923, and then my own country home, which we had lived in for over twenty years. Penelope Lively countryemptyfamily Change image and share on social
Conventional forms of narrative allow for different points of view, but for this book I wanted a structure whereby each of the main characters contributed a distinctive version of the story. Penelope Lively bookcharactercontribute Change image and share on social
I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the social change over the century as a historian, but as somebody who's walked through it and whose life has been dictated by it too, as all our lives are. Penelope Lively centurychangedictate share on social
I'm intrigued by the way in which physical appearance can often direct a person's life; things happen differently for a beautiful woman than for a plain one. Penelope Lively appearancebeautifuldifferently 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
I can walk about London and see a society that seems an absolutely revolutionary change from the 1950s, that seems completely and utterly different, and then I can pick up on something where you suddenly see that it's not. Penelope Lively 1950sabsolutelychange share on social
We read Greek and Norse mythology until it came out of our ears. And the Bible. Penelope Lively bibleeargreek 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
I didn't want it to be a book that made pronouncements. Penelope Lively bookmakepronouncement Change image and share on social
