“She hadn't chosen the brave life. She'd chosen the small, fearful one.”

“She hadn't chosen him over all the others. The truth was that she hadn't even thought about anyone else.”

“He thought about the story his daughter was living and the role she was playing inside that story. He realized he hadn't provided a better role for his daughter. He hadn't mapped out a story for his family. And so his daughter had chosen another story, a story in which she was wanted, even if she was only being used. In the absence of a family story, she'd chosen a story in which there was risk and adventure, rebellion and independence.”

“And Lexi had to deal with that fact. She had to deal with knowing that he hadn't chosen her. He didn't want her.”

“You have not chosen one another, but I have chosen you for one another.”

“...she felt about reading what some writers felt about writing: that it was impossible not to do it and that at this late stage of her life she had been chosen to read as others were chosen to write.”