I was beginning to understand.My grandmother's love was cold because she was afraid of things;that was why everything had to be perfect.

Weapons are kept from women, but such a naming suggests that perhaps men fear our talents in war as well as our desire for peace.

That is the joy of reading fiction: when all is said and done, the novel belongs to the reader and his or her imagination.

This day is going to be awful. It's the sort of day you wouldn't mind losing completely, even if it meant your life would be twenty-four hours shorter.

Always keep mint on your windowsill in August, to ensure that buzzing flies will stay outside, where they belong. Don't think the summer is over, even when roses droop and turn brown and the stars shift position in the sky. Never presume August is a safe or reliable time of the year.

Jill and I have known each other our whole lives. One house separates our houses but we act as if it doesn't exist. We met before we were born and we'll probably still know each other after we die. At least, that's the way we're planning it.

We stood and watched as God abandoned us, and then we did the best we could.