“She had come to accept, deeply, and with certitude, that she had been born into a world, a life, that would not let her be whole.”

“She had been born for this man, and she had spent so many years trying to accept the fact that he had been born for someone else...”

“She wondered if she would have tumbled into love with him during the past week if her heart had been whole, if her soul had no been shattered long ago. She rather thought she might have. But a heart and soul could not be mended by the power of the will, she had discovered over seven years. And so she had accepted reality and moved on.”

“Helen felt as if the whole world had turned into some gigantic punch line that she had waited patiently for, and then when she heard it she found it insulting. If she had been in a comedy club she would have gotten up and walked out, but instead she had to go to the comedian's house after school and let his cousin beat the crap out of her.”

“Her own fearless audacity had surprised her, though she knew she had been born for more than her life had asked of her thus far.”

“Her heart went out to him with a stronger movement than ever, at the thought that people would blame him. Maggie hated blame; she had been blamed her whole life, and nothing had come of it but evil tempers.”