we perceive silence where, in fact, there is a muffler.

The question arises as to whether it is possible not to live in the world of men and still to live in the world.

The illusion of companionship sits waiting in the television set. We keep our televisions on more than we watch them - an average of more than seven hours a day. For background. For company.

Between sisters, often, the child's cry never dies down. "Never leave me," it says; "do not abandon me."

Much female conversation is, in fact, about survival - but in code.

Sometimes I feel like a sisterless child.

for many people, loneliness was an experience of time. 'Not knowing what to do with yourself' was the way it was usually put.