Intelligence is power; it is the flame behind the spark of intrigue. Find out all the facts and stamp out the fire. Demystify.

Humiliation scars deeper than the lash.

No, what Great Aunt Winifred was suffering from was the persecution every happily single woman suffers: the predictable social condemnation of her independence and childlessness. Dorothy reminded herself of what she'd learned during a university course on feminist history (with a strong Marxist slant): spinsters are a threat to patriarchy.

Memory is a great deceiver: it embroiders until naught is left but the glory and the pleasure.

The worst enemy is one whose doctrines are founded in hate and are thus beyond debate.

We cannot choose the times we live in. Just as, sometimes, we cannot choose whom we love.

As a reader I like both great characterization and fast moving plots. The challenge is to balance the both and not compromise one for the other.