When I turned fifteen, I remember my father gave me a credit card which I was allowed to use for two things: emergencies and books.

I think pants have unique qualities, especially in a woman’s life. Whatever bodily insecurities we have, we seem to take out on our pants.

I allowed myself to suffer how jarringly destructive the present feels and how fragile the past.

Please don't judge me too much until you are older and know more things. (Spoken from mother to daughter)

Her vision of the world under the water represented a beautiful stillness, a version of heaven. It was the lost city of Lena, her alternate universe, the life she yearned for but didn't get to have.

She got under the covers and put her arms around the bag. She could smell Tibby. It used to be she couldn't smell Tibby's smell in the way you couldn't smell your own; it was too familiar. But tonight she could. This was some living part of Tibby still here and she held on to it. There was more of Tibby with her here and now than in what she had seen in the cold basement room that day.

Pain is fear, and I'm not afraid.