A girl expecting rescue never learns to save herself. Even with the means, she will find her courage wanting.

Oh, there was harm indeed for a young lady flattered by the brief attentions of a handsome man.

My fingers positively itched to drift at length along their spines, to arrive at one whose lure I could not pass, to pluck it down, to inch it open, then to close my eyes and inhale the soul-sparking scent of old and literate dust.

Nell was not one for friends and had never hidden her distaste for most other humans, their neurotic compulsion for the acquisition of allies.

Rejection is a cancer, Edie. It eats away at a person.

Some say I'm an overnight success. Well, that was a very long night that lasted about 10 years. But while I do, of course, now feel the pressure having had books that have been very successful, I just know I have to concentrate on writing for myself. I can't worry about genres or markets or what might be commercial or not. That never works.

when you love someone you’ll do just about anything to keep them.