“She was his wife, mother, best friend, sister, lover, and priest.”

“...fact was she knew more about them than she knew about herself, having never had the map to discover what she was like.Could she sing? (Was it nice to hear when she did?) Was she pretty? Was she a good friend? Could she have been a loving mother? A faithful wife? Have I got a sister and does she favor me? If my mother knew me would she like me? (140)”

“A wife is a friend first, a lover second, and third and probably most important, a maid.”

“You're Gideon's friend."I laughed. Gideon's friend, of course. "Only because his mother pays me to hang out with him.""Can she pay me?" Elspeth asked.Iris, moving into the room, rolled her eyes at her sister.”

“Every woman is a gift when she becomes a daughter, Every woman is beautiful when she becomes a lover, Every woman is special when she becomes a wife, Every woman is a god when she becomes a Mother”

“... to have a lover and friend in one was the best love of all.”