Love accepts. Forgiveness comes in time.

Judgment is such a useful shield, isn't it? We can hide behind it, rise above others on its crest, keep ourselves safe and separate.

Denial: my family heritage. If you don't ask the questions, the truth will never inconvenience you.

It's strange how memory gets twisted and pulled like taffy in its retelling, how a single event can mean something different to everyone present.

A child who's been injured by a parent waits her whole life for some acknowledgment of the wrong that's been done, some validation from him that her pain is real, that he's sorry and will make amends. The child will wait forever, unable to move forward, unable to forgive, without someone to acknowledge the past. In that powerlessness comes a terrible rage.

Love accepts. Forgiveness comes in time.

Alafair Burke is one of the finest young crime writers working today.