No one has to know. No one would. It would be her secret, one she would share with the mountains only. The question is whether it is a secret she can live with, and Parwana thinks she knows the answer. She has lived with secrets all her life.

You don't order someone to polish your shoes one day and call them 'sister' the next.

As far as I know, he never asked where she had been or why she had left and she never told. I guess some stories do not need telling.

I have a theory about marriage, Monsieur Boustouler. And it’s that nearly always you will know within two weeks if it’s going to work. It’s astonishing how many people remain shackled for years, decades even, in a protracted and mutual state of self-delusion and false hope when in fact they had their answer in those first two weeks.

I don't listen to music when I write - I find it distracting.

True redemption is...when guilt leads to good.

After all, life is not a Hindi movie.