“Maybe a mother wasn't what she seemed to be on the surface.”

“Here's what I hadn't realized: the mother you haven't seen for almost thirty-six years isn't your mother, she's a stranger. Sharing DNA doesn't make you fast friends. This wasn't a joyous reunion. It was just awkward.”

“Maybe mothers - consciously or subconsciously - repelled their daughters in different ways.”

“Maybe this was the job of a mother: to buy time for her child, no matter what. Even if it meant doing something she'd rather not; even if it left her flat on her back.”

“Being a good mother, it seemed to me, meant you ran the risk of losing your child.”

“She was all the things I wasn't. And i was all the things she wasn't. she could paint circles around anyone; I couldn't even draw a straight line. She was never into sports; I've always been. Her hand, it fit mine.”

“These days her entire life was about making people believe she was someone she wasn't anymore.”