“Wives' at these events had limited choices: either they could stay by their husbands' sides to coach them on other guests' names and remind them of the ages of their children when asked, or they could congregate with other wives in a corner, like pedestrians caught in a rain shower with only one umbrella between them.”

“No couple buying wedding rings wants to be reminded that someday one of them will have to accept the other one's ring from a nurse or an undertaker.”

“At my worst, I even resented Nic because an addict, at least when high, has a momentary respite from his suffering. There is no similar relief for parents or children or husbands or wives or others who love them.”

“Believe me, if all wives whose husbands had affairs left them, we would only have divorced women in this country.”

“He flicked off the light switch, setting the alarm system. Overhead he could hearReno—music that could only be Japanese hip-hop, for God’s sake, and thumps andbumps. Either he had half a dozen girls up there on the floor and he was doing them one by one, or he was doing some sort of exercise. Or dancing. The thought of Reno dancing was enough to send cold shivers down Peter’s spine. He preferred the notion of an orgy.”

“Eventually, I reached the other side of the chasm and understood the differences between the two men. I no longer hated Daddy: he had been a shitty father and a shitty husband - a man who's made two bad choices based on lust and coveting and then been too weak either to live with them or undo them. But he had not been a rapist.”

“But is not one a result of the other?” she asked. “Love and loyalty? I cannot see how could you prefer one to the other.”