Why should I be polished and improved like goods for sale? I might not even want to marry! And besides, I have many skills. I can read and write and play the flute and harp. Why should I change to please some man? If he doesn’t like me the way I am, then he can get some other girl for his wife.

Perhaps he could still weave together the broken threads of his life. And yet, I wanted him here now. I needed him here. In the darkness, if I sat very still, I could almost feel his presence by me, quite near, but not too near. Didn't I promise to keep you safe, he would say softly. I have never broken a promise. Don't look so worried, Jenny. And yet, he would be careful. Careful not to move too close. Careful not to frighten me. Waiting still. I am your shelter. Don't be afraid.

This had been real: real in its flaws and uncertainties, real in its small triumphs, real in its compromises and understanding.

What I do . . . the path I tread . . . it brings some choices that test me hard.

A dream is the key that unlocks the mysteries of the waking world.

As a novelist, I'm endlessly fascinated by human behavior and interactions.

There is no truth on this island of yours. Rather, there are as many truths as there are stars in the sky; and every one of them different.