A pair of schoolchildren,pale as rice and loud as…

I don't want to get hung up on what 'people,' that nebulous mass, think about me. That's the way to unhappiness, I think.

— Monica Ali

Character is always my driving force. And to tell a good story and to provide an entertaining read.

— Monica Ali

The thing about getting older is that you don't need everything to be possible any more, you just need things to be certain.

— Monica Ali

“Nishi's sister, who was sixteen years old, had gone for a "holiday" in Sylhet and returned six months later with a husband and a…

— Monica Ali

“The air was hot and wet, as if it had absorbed the sweat of countless bodies. It dripped also with scandal.”

— Monica Ali

I started writing 'Brick Lane' when my children were two years and five months old. We were on holiday in the north of England…

— Monica Ali

“Life made its pattern around and beneath and through her.”

— Monica Ali

Sometimes I look back and I am shocked. Everyday of my life I have prepared for success, worked for it, waited for it, and…

— Monica Ali

“Tevis being childless meant you felt a little sorry for her, and a bit jealous. Probably the same way she felt about you.”

— Monica Ali

She touched his hand for the last time. "Oh, Karim, that we have already done. But always there was a problem between us. How…

— Monica Ali

A new car is not going to change your life.

— Monica Ali

“Her words were as sharp as an eyeful of sand. She never raised her voice. It was the kind of voice that never needed…

— Monica Ali

“And so they entwined their lives to drink from the pools of each other’s sadness. From these special watering holes, each man drew strength.”

— Monica Ali

“If God wanted us to ask questions, he would have made us men (page 80).”

— Monica Ali

Outside of interviews, I spend very little time thinking about myself. I spend time thinking about my writing and my children and other things…

— Monica Ali