He wanted to put his arms around her, but she had a darkness that seemed to stand beside her like an acquaintance that would not go away.
Elizabeth StroutIf you get divorced in New York, you go into therapy and will talk to anybody you meet on the sidewalk about it.
Elizabeth StroutIn case you haven't noticed, people get hard-hearted against the people they hurt. Because they can't stand it. Literally. To think we did that to someone. I did that. So we think of all the reasons why it's okay we did whatever we did.
Elizabeth StroutI have to pay attention to what I have felt and observed, then push these responses to an extreme while keeping the story within the realm of being psychologically and emotionally true.
Elizabeth StroutHe would not let her go. Even though, staring into her open eyes in the swirling salt-filled water, with sun flashing though each wave, he thought he would like this moment to be forever: the dark-haired woman on shore calling for their safety, the girl who had once jumped rope like a queen, now holding him with a fierceness that matched the power of the oceanโoh, insane, ludicrous, unknowable world! Look how she wanted to live, look how she wanted to hold on.
Elizabeth Strout