There are certain things I don’t talk about. I have kept diaries, of course, but they can’t be read for quite a long time. What will emerge when people read them? I can’t imagine that anything will emerge that can’t be deduced from reading any of my books now. This is why I’m always curious about people who are fascinated by writers’ lives. It seems to me that we’re always in our books, quite nakedly. I wonder, too, does the private life really matter? Who cares what is known about you and what isn’t? Even when you make public something that’s been private, most people don’t get it—not unless they’re the same generation and have gone through more or less the same experiences. So, in a sense, we’re all private, by definition.

DORIS LESSING