“I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting.”

“I don't think ordinary things are very interesting, so I try to imagine a world that is less ordinary.”

“I was excited by what my painter friends were doing, and they seemed to be interested in our poetry too, and that was a wonderful little, fizzy sort of world.”

“Every young lady may feel for my heroine in this critical moment, for every young lady has at some time or other known the same agitation.”

“I was very aware that you were a girl, Ash. I was just scared because the one person in the world who knew every secret I'd ever had also happened to be the most beautiful girl I'd ever known. My feelings for you were scary as Hell.”

“This person realizes that staying home means blowing off everyone this person has ever known. But the desire to stay in is very strong. This person wants to run a bath and then read in bed.”