Novelist Ian McEwan: Writing is "a way of being"

"A secret, I think, can be fatal," said acclaimed novelist Ian McEwan. "She died with her secret intact."

That secret McEwan is talking about was a personal one held by his mother: "She would give birth to a baby boy, and she gave that child away. The moment she gave that child away, I think that woman vanished."

He noted, "These things aren't resolved."