“There are moments that I know I will long for even as I live them.”

“We build fortresses around ourselves in order to protect the things that are important to us, and we forget that what's really important to us is the connection with other people.”

“Don't hate anything, because that's exactly what you'll get”

“I tutored myself in the art of solemnity, kept my euphoria private, and adopted a serious demeanour in keeping with everyone else and the general ambience of the house. I continued my solitary daily walks about the estate, carefully choreographing scenes and conversations yet to happen. I returned to those places of our clandestine moments together, replaying them in my head, languishing in his treasured words . . . and sometimes adding more. I stood under frosty sunsets, my warm breath mingling with the cold evening air as I watched the silent flight of birds across the sky. And even in those twilit autumnal days I felt a light shine down upon my path. For though he was no longer at Deyning, no longer in England, the fact that he lived and breathed had already altered my vision; and nothing, not even a war, could quell my faith in the inevitability of his presence in my life.”

“The first time I started choreographing was in the dark, in my living room, with the lights completely out, to some popular music on the radio. I put the radio on full blast and I started moving. I didn't know what it looked like. I didn't want to see it... I had to start in the dark.”

“How long were you standing there?""Long enough to know you will be leaving soon. I thought I should speak to you. I didn't think you would come to tell me. Would you have?""No. I wouldn't have expected you to care. You followed me?""Like a lovesick swain. Wherever you go, there am I. Haven't you noticed these past weeks?""I have seen you drinking and mocking with your jaded friends and your latest paramour on your arms. Or is it still Castlemaine? Have you no self-respect?""No. None." He shrugged. "Love is war, and feigned disinterest my armor. You wear yours too, love. It is sad I know.”

“A word of warning here. The events as you remember them will never be the same in your memory once you have turned them into a memoir. For years I have worried that if I turn all of my life into literature, I won't have any real life left - just stories about it. And it is a realistic concern: it does happen like that. I am no longer sure I remember how it felt to be twenty and living in Spain after my parents died; my book about it stands now between me and my memories. When I try to think about that time, what comes to mind most readily is what I wrote.”