They were bound for college, husbands, child-rearing, unhappiness only dimly perceived- bound, in other words, for life.

The humming of my parents' voices from behind my bedroom wall, which throughout my childhood had filled me with a sense of security, had now become a source of anxiety and panic.

no reason to mention my peculiarities, my wandering in the maze these many years, shut away from sight. and from love, too.

Every novelist should possess a hermaphroditic imagination.

The more she thought about it, the more Madeleine understood that extreme solitude didn't just describe the way she was feeling about Leonard. It explained how she'd always felt when she was in love. It explained what love was like and, just maybe, what was wrong with it.

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

Lux spent the ride dialing the radio for her favorite song. "It makes me crazy," she said. "You know they're playing it somewhere, but you have to find it.