It was morning by the clock but deepest nighttime in his body.

Grief is natural,' she said. 'Overcoming it is a matter of choice.

That’s how people live, by telling stories. What’s the first thing a kid says when he learns how to talk? “Tell me a story.” That’s how we understand who we are, where we come from. Stories are everything.

I know that attaching memories to books may be going out of the world, but while it lasts, it's a strong record of your life.

Sourmelina's secret (as Aunt Zo put it): 'Lina was one of those women they named the island after.

We knew that Cecilia had killed herself because she was a misfit, because the beyond called to her, and we knew that her sisters, once abandoned, felt her calling from that place, too.

In the end, the tortures tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple reasoned refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them, so full of flaws.