Avoid men who call you Baby, and women who have no friends, and dogs that scratch at their bellies and refuse to lie down at your feet. Wear dark glasses; bathe with lavender oil and cool fresh water. Seek shelter from the sun at noon.

My mother's blood that would last forever after. The blood of my brother, my grandfather, my father.

There was the blue sky above her and all those many roses, the ones that gave off the scent of cloves in the rain and the ones that left a trace of lemon on your fingers, the ones that were the color of blood, and those that were as white as clouds. Each one was sweeter than the next and as red as gemstones.

He was in love, and people in that condition did stupid, unfathomable things. They were all flawed, every single one.

Any institution becomes a community - whether it's a high school or a boarding school or a publishing company or a small town where everybody knows certain things about people.

I never plot out my novels in terms of the tone of the book. Hopefully, once a story is begun it reveals itself

My mother, Abra, had taught me that all people are made from the same dust. When our days here are gone, all men and women enter the same garden.