Leila Slimani

In Morocco, there is an insistence on authority. Children are not encouraged to speak up in front of their parents. My parents…

— Leila Slimani

When you become a 'public person,' I find it very difficult to keep following social media. It is too harsh, too violent.…

— Leila Slimani

I don't really consider myself an immigrant, because I was born French; I have always spoken the language. I never had the…

— Leila Slimani

I knew I wanted to write about a nanny, but it was difficult for me to find a narrative rhythm.

— Leila Slimani

A nanny is a woman who lives in an apartment, but the apartment is not her own. She raises children, teaches them…

— Leila Slimani

“She had been in one of those sleeps so heavy they leave you feeling sad, disorientated, your stomach full of tears. A…

— Leïla Slimani

'Lullaby' is about boundaries.

— Leila Slimani

I am not patriotic or nationalistic, but the French language is like a country where I take refuge when I have nowhere…

— Leila Slimani

Everyone asks me, 'Why do you choose such subversive or shocking themes?' but when I'm alone in my office, I'm not like,…

— Leila Slimani

Authorities in Rabat believe that if we create a Moroccan character, even in a work of fiction, we are responsible for the…

— Leila Slimani

I like anti-hero women. Negative female characters interest me.

— Leila Slimani

I am not afraid of being a pariah.

— Leila Slimani

I love cooking shows! I'm not a bad cook myself, but I must say that I admire the creativity of those young…

— Leila Slimani

When I was a little girl and people would ask me what I wanted to be when I got older, I always…

— Leila Slimani

One of the big mistakes of the Moroccan elite and the elite in the Muslim world was to be afraid of the…

— Leila Slimani

I like to describe my characters as though they were all trapped in a glass box.

— Leila Slimani

I, too, am interested in identity and Islam, which is what people expect of us. But one must not write what is…

— Leila Slimani

Let's stop hiding behind a pseudo-respect of cultures, in a sickening relativism that's only a mask for our cowardice, our cynicism, and…

— Leila Slimani

A mother should never be blamed for working.

— Leila Slimani

It's very important to say that French doesn't belong to France and to French people. Now you have very wonderful poets and…

— Leila Slimani