I've been accused of trying too hard to rescue people

They turned a distracted gaze on the world, wide-eyed, somehow, and questioning.

He wished he had some kind of X-ray vision for the human heart.

The thing is, I used to like that: feeling special because I knew something no one else did. It's a kind of power, isn't it, knowing a secret? But lately I don't like it so much, knowing this. It's not really mine to know, is it?

She didn't love him and he didn't love her; she was like an addiction, and what they were doing had a darkness to it, a weight.

The Lake of Dreams grew gradually, over many years, elements and ideas accruing until they gained enough critical mass to become a novel.

Your understanding of a place changes the longer you stay; you discover more, and your own life gets woven into the fabric of the community.