“She had willed her heart to stay small and contained, but it wouldn’t be. Oh, well.”

“Any man for her had better be well-dressed, well-groomed, and well-hung, and if he couldn’t get her off at least twice with his mouth, she wouldn’t return his calls. Couldn’t imagine why she was thirty-nine and still single.”

“Then she had been a fiancee, a young wife, and a mother, and she had discovered that these words were far too small ever to contain the experience.”

“She thought it lovely, and at the same time felt relief that, at the moment, her heart kept silent. A speaking heart could break-she knew that very well. As long as hers remained content, she'd stay relaxed and happy.”

“And she felt as though she had been there, on that bench, for an eternity. For an infinity of passion can be contained in one minute, like a crowd in a small space.”

“she kept sliding down, in small half-willing surrenders, till she was a heap, with the book held tiringly above her face.”