What caused this anxiety?

As we have seen recently, different people mean different things when they speak of multiculturalism. Almost any simple statement made on the issue can be misinterpreted. But in a novel, there is enough room speak about it.

So how was it received? I am glad to say that it was received very warmly by people from many different races and backgrounds. I was particularly pleased with a glowing review in India Weekly. The reviewer got to the heart of the book. He really understood it.

Only one person complained about the way the book talked about racism. She stopped me in the street and asked why I'd written all those things bad things about Leicester. This shook me up, because I love this city in all its beautiful diversity. But then I asked her exactly what it was in Backlash that she didn't like. It turned out the only part she'd read was the cover. I decided I could live with that.

Why do you think Backlash has been this successful?

I think Backlash was received well because, at heart, it is a good yarn. The multicultural city is its background. But the story is about a woman, confronted with a crime that threatens her life and an event that will change it forever - one way or another. I think that's why it was shortlisted for the John Creasey award for the best debut crime novel of 2003.

What would you say are your main concerns as a writer?

Narrative touches everybody. It is fundamental to the human condition.

Children learn to cope with their fears through stories of wolves and pigs and evil and good and death and love. We tell stories about things that have happened to us, to codify the changes of our lives. We try to find out the stories of our ancestors to help us understand where we came from. It is through stories that we understand religion and history. Writers and storytellers aren't simply making a living or entertaining people. They are engaged in something elemental. There is magic here. The alchemy of storytelling. I don't believe a novelist could write a book and be unchanged by the process.

How has your own writing changed you?

Each of the books I have written has taken me on a journey. Particularly Breakbeat. That is the story of a dyslexic man, coping with a crime and coming to terms with who he is.

I found myself writing the words of another character talking to him, telling him why he acted as he did, explaining his psychology. But really the character was telling me why I do the things I do, why I am as I am. I hadn't known it before.

What concerns me about writing? Is it to have a chance to entertain the reader? Yes, certainly. Is it to explore complex issues? Yes. But underlying all that is something more profound, something that exists mostly in the subconscious. It is to immerse myself in narrative. In short, it is to be human.