...I was never passively listening to my mother-storyteller; my lively reactions were an integral part of the unfolding of her story. How to talk about the torrid sexual relationship between two lovers to children who were only eight or nine years old? I can still remember with an amused smile the narrative creativity of the storyteller; "every night," she would say, "a strong wind lifted Youmané's dress on her way back home." ...those frightened beings were often young women, like in the tale "Niantanta," which impressed me so much that I believe I have included it in every one of my novels in one form or another. The whole of their meaning resided in a sort of orgy of sound and a power of suggestion that gave them a rare intensity.