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.

Mitchell had answered that, as far as he understood them, mystical experiences were significant only to the extent that they changed a person's conception of reality, and if that changed conception led to a change in behavior and action, a loss of ego.

A seven-year-old girl can take only so many walks with her grandfather.

But, like anyone in love, Madeleine believed that her own relationship was different from every other relationship, immune from typical problems.

Novelists are always resisting autobiographical readings of their work, because they know how false those can be.

She may have looked normal on the outside, but once you'd seen her handwriting you knew she was deliciously complicated inside.

I saw the movie, he said. I know what it's about. Listen to this. When girls get to be about twelve or so - he leaned toward us - their tits bleed.