Deep down I have this atavistic feeling that really I should be in the country.

Quote by Penelope Lively

Topics: Penelope Lively Quotes

I'm now an agnostic but I grew up on the King James version, which I'm...

I'm now an agnostic but I grew up on the King James version, which I'm...

There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest...

There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest...

The consideration of change over the century is about loss, though I think that social...

The consideration of change over the century is about loss, though I think that social...

Equally, we require a collective past - hence the endless reinterpretations of history, frequently to...

Equally, we require a collective past - hence the endless reinterpretations of history, frequently to...

It was a combination of an intense interest in children's literature, which I've always had,...

It was a combination of an intense interest in children's literature, which I've always had,...

The Photograph is concerned with the power that the past has to interfere with the...

The Photograph is concerned with the power that the past has to interfere with the...

I can walk about London and see a society that seems an absolutely revolutionary change...

I can walk about London and see a society that seems an absolutely revolutionary change...

The pleasure of writing fiction is that you are always spotting some new approach, an...

The pleasure of writing fiction is that you are always spotting some new approach, an...

I do like to embed a fictional character firmly in an occupation.

I do like to embed a fictional character firmly in an occupation.

I'm writing another novel and I know what I'm going to do after, which may...

I'm writing another novel and I know what I'm going to do after, which may...

I rather like getting away from fiction.

I rather like getting away from fiction.

I have had to empty two family homes during the last few years - first,...

I have had to empty two family homes during the last few years - first,...

I didn't want it to be a book that made pronouncements.

I didn't want it to be a book that made pronouncements.

All history, of course, is the history of wars

All history, of course, is the history of wars

I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the...

I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the...

I have long been interested in landscape history, and when younger and more robust I...

I have long been interested in landscape history, and when younger and more robust I...

I'm intrigued by the way in which physical appearance can often direct a person's life;...

I'm intrigued by the way in which physical appearance can often direct a person's life;...

We read Greek and Norse mythology until it came out of our ears. And the...

We read Greek and Norse mythology until it came out of our ears. And the...

Conventional forms of narrative allow for different points of view, but for this book I...

Conventional forms of narrative allow for different points of view, but for this book I...

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.

We make choices but are constantly foiled by happenstance.