I loved to be alone in the woods, especially in the late fall when everything is crisp and golden, the leaves the color of fire, and it smells like things turning into earth. I loved the silence - the only sound the steady drum of the hooves and the horse's breathing.

Is it possible to tell the truth in a society of lies? Or must you always, of necessity, become a liar?

I'm used to a feeling of doubleness, of thinking one thing and having to do another, a constant tug-of-war.

Raven has lost deeply, again and again, and she, too, has buried herself. There are pieces of her scattered all over. Her heart is nestled next to a small set of bones buried beside a frozen river, which will emerge with the spring thaw, a skeleton ship rising out of the water”.

There are more of us than you think.

That's when you really lose people, you know.When the pain passes.

And even though I'm standing in the middle of the biggest crowd I've ever seen in my life, I suddenly feel very alone.