Alternate history fascinates me, as it fascinates all novelists, because 'What if?' is the big thing.

Sylvia loved secrets and even if she didn't have any secrets she made sure that you thought she did. Amelia had no secrets, Amelia knew nothing. When she grew up she planned to know everything and to keep it all a secret.

They said love made you strong, but in Louise's opinion it made you weak. It corkscrewed into your heart and you couldn't get it out again, not without ripping your heart to pieces.

The great thing about writing compared to life is getting to tie things up.

I was on the verge of something numinous and profound and in one more second the universe was going to crack open and arcana would rain down on my head like grace and all the cosmic mysteries were going to be revealed.

She doesn't believe in dogs," Bridget said. "Dogs are hardly an article of faith," Sylvie said.

Oh, God. What was happening to her, she was turning into a normal person.