“Always remember, with a strong enough will, even the weak can wield great power.”

“It is queer, but my love and longing for the world are always deepened by my absence from it; it's wondrous, don't you think, that a person can swing from despair to gleeful hunger, and that even during these dark days there is happiness to be found in the smallest things?”

“It was the sibling thing, I suppose. I was fascinated by the intricate tangle of love and duty and resentment that tied them together. The glances they exchanged; the complicated balance of power established over decades; the games I would never play with rules I would never fully understand. And perhaps that was key: they were such a natural group that they made me feel remarkably singular by comparison. To watch them together was to know strongly, painfully, all that I'd been missing.”

“Life could be cruel enough these days without the truth making it worse.”

“...She's understood the power of stories. Their magical ability to refill the wounded part of people.”

“She did as she felt, and she felt a great deal.”

“Reading is one of life's great pleasures; talking about books keeps their worlds alive for longer.”