“The extraordinary mystique of hers made you think she lived on rose petals and listened to nothing but Mozart, but it wasn't true. She was quite funny and ribald. She could tell a dirty joke. She played charades with a great sense of fun and vulgarity, and she could be quite bitchy.”

“did jesus have a baby sister? was she bitter?was she sweet?did she wind up in a convent? did she end up on the street? on the run?on the stage? did she dance? did he have a sister? a little baby sister? did jesus have a sister? did they give her a chance?did he have a baby sister? could she speak out by and large?or was she told by mother mary ask your brother he’s in charge he’s the whipped creamon the cakedid he have a sister? a little baby sister? did jesus have a sister? did they give her a break?her brother’s birth announcement was pretty big pretty bigi guess while she got precious little notice in the local press her mother was the virgin when she carried him carried him thereinif the little girl came later thenwas she conceived in sin? and in sorrow?and in shame? did jesus have a sister? what was her name?and did she long to be the savior saving everyone she met?and in private to her mirror did she whisper saviorette?saviorwoman?saviorperson?save your breath! did he have a sister? a little baby sister? did jesus have a sister? was she there at his death?and did she cry for mary’s comfort as she watched himon the cross? and was mary too despairing ask your brother he’s the bosshe’s the chief he’s the man he’s the show did he have a sister? a little baby sister? did jesus have a sister? doesn’t anyone know?”

“Nicola had to move closer to Marcus, had to take his hands in hers and hold them over her heart as though she could give hers up for his if it meant she could take away all of the pain he'd had to deal with at such a terribly young age.”

“Its sound in her soul was a distant fast train. Love did not bring happiness, it did not last, and it ended in pain. She did not want to believe this, and she was not certain that she did; perhaps she feared it was true in her own life, and her fear had become a feeling that tasted like disbelief.”

“The office was large, with many women and men at desks, and she learned their names, and presented to them an amiability she assumed upon entering the building. Often she felt that her smiles, and her feigned interest in people's anecdotes about commuting and complaints about colds, were an implicit and draining part of her job. A decade later she would know that spending time with people and being unable either to speak from her heart or to listen with it was an imperceptible bleeding of her spirit.”

“If I could love me more, I could love you less.”

“She smiled, not because she felt confident that she could think of a solution, but for the gratitude that she wasn’t quite so alone in her pursuit.”