My mothers family were full-on Irish Catholics – faith in an elaborate old fashioned, highly conservative and madly baroque style. I sort of fell out of the tribe over womens rights and social justice issues when I was just 13 years old. – Geraldine Brooks
There are always a few who stand up in times of communal madness and have the courage to say that what unites us is greater than what divides us. – Geraldine Brooks
You cant write about the past and ignore religion. It was such a fundamental, mind-shaping, driving force for pre-modern societies. Im very interested in what religion does to us – its capacity to create love and empathy or hatred and violence. – Geraldine Brooks
The day in 2004 when the radiologist told me I had invasive cancer, I walked down the hospital corridor looking for a phone to call my husband, and I could almost see the fear coming toward me like a big, black shadow. – Geraldine Brooks