Different people were good at different things, Lena mused. Lena was good at writing thank-you notes, for instance, and Effie was good at being happy.

As a writer, you live in such isolation. It's hard to imagine your book has a life beyond you.

She was astonished, and at the same time she knew. There were many things in life like that. You couldn’t imagine it, and then it happened and you couldn’t really imagine it hadn’t.

you remember what is lost, and you forget what's right in front of you.

He's had a lot of chances to care, and he hasn't.

Sometimes you need to make a mess. -Loretta, the Rollinses' hosekeeper

As the three of them walked home from the trees, nobody needed to say it, but Ama knew. They had questioned their friendship. They had searched and wondered, looking for a sign. And all along they'd had their trees. You couldn't wear them. You couldn't pass them around. They offered no fashion advantage. But they had roots. They lived.