It occurred to her suddenly, sharply, that she wanted to be in love... She wanted not to feel so damned alone in the world.

Jude remembered this pain. Every woman had felt some version of it: the end of first love. It was when you learned, for good and always, that love could be impermanent.

Caro: "Bite me." Ruby: "I gave that up in kindergarten.

Stacey: "I'm surprised you haven't thrown me out." Comfort: "At your current weight, I'd need some sort of catapult.

Sitting around and waiting for your muse is not the best choice.

I guess no one stays friends for more than thirty years without broken hearts along the way.

I prefer to scare myself in the ordinary ways, Daddy. Like letting my children cross the country for college. Why bungee jump when you can put a kindergartener on a school bus? Now, that's real terror.