Hannah Kent Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“Most writers are drawn to what is unknown, rather than what is clear in any tale.”

“There are secrets at the heart of every story; there is something that must be uncovered or discovered, both by the reader and by the characters.”

“I don't like to pretend I was guided in any way by the supernatural world, but the more you talk about that, the easier it is to dismiss those notions.”

“I was a very imaginative child, and my parents were very encouraging of that. My sister and I would put on plays; I would write my own stories.”

“I always knew I wanted to be a writer. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do as a money-making job.”

“I really hate the term 'historical novel' - it reminds me of bodice-rippers. But I'm hooked on research, and I really, really enjoy it.”

“I had expected that at some point during the first draft a light would go on, and I would understand, finally, how to write a book. This never happened. The process was akin to blindly walking in the dark, feeling my way only by touch, and only recognising dead ends when I smacked into them.”

“I used to have 20/20 vision, believe it or not; that's gone because of all the reading I did when I wasn't supposed to, reading in the back of a car, waiting for each street light to go past so I could grab another sentence.”

“The mystery at the center of 'Burial Rites' is not who killed whom on the night of March 13, 1828. It is the mystery each of us encounters: Can we every truly know another? Can we ever truly know ourselves?”