Sometimes the Earth trembles; sometimes you can feel it breathe.

It was the darkness that got you. It was heavy darkness, greasy and compelling. It made walls round you, and shut you in so that you felt like you could not breathe.

The woman had a humble, cringing manner. Of course, she had discovered that, having neither money nor virtue, she had better be humble if she knew what was good for her.

I've been so ridiculous all my life that a little bit more or a little bit less hardly matters now.

She’ll have no lover, for I don’t want her and she’ll see no other.

You can pretend for a long time, but one day it all falls away and you are alone. We are alone in the most beautiful place in the world.

I hadn't bargained for this. I didn't think it would be like this - shabby clothes, worn-out shoes, circles under your eyes, your hair getting straight and lanky, the way people look at you. ... I didn't think it would be like this