I'm very eclectic in my music tastes - anything from Nina Simone to Beethoven to Talvin Singh.

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• Monica Ali:

  I like Beryl Bainbridge a great deal, and she is a writer who absolutely demands to be read a secon

• Monica Ali:

  I get really excited if I think I'm going to introduce somebody to a writer they haven't found befo

• Monica Ali:

  I started writing 'Brick Lane' when my children were two years and five months old. We were on holi

• Monica Ali:

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

• Monica Ali:

  I rarely get a moment to myself, but I love the way that my agenda is dictated by the children, not

• Monica Ali:

  I wish I got a lie-in on Saturday mornings but I never do.

• Monica Ali:

  I guess there's a sort of cycle with writing books. There's all the researching and then the imagin

• Monica Ali:

  Some writers are more natural public performers than others; personally I find it quite strange giv

• Monica Ali:

  A new car is not going to change your life.

• Monica Ali:

  Outside of interviews, I spend very little time thinking about myself. I spend time thinking about