“She wouldn't look back, didn't want closure. She'd imagine for the rest of her years that somehow a part of her just went on living that life.”

“An uncomplicated woman gets complicated when she finally says what she means.”

“No, it wasn't aging that made someone brittle, it was disappointment that did. It was allowing the world to make you smaller and smaller until you couldn't hold yourself upright anymore. That, that made a woman break.”

“My doubts fall away and leave me weightless and whole. I turn. I look. I see the frame of my face in another’s. I see my eyes staring back at me. It’s her. It is her. She is lovely. She is delicate. She is a familiar mix of me. (p. 301)They’re expecting Aimee. I’m not Aimee. I can’t be anything like the Aimee they imagined me to be, I worried. What if I’m not as easy to love as the baby they gave away? What if this doesn’t work out? What will I tell my daughters? What will I tell myself? (p.295)Gloria wasn’t all bad; she did have days that made me want to nest in her arms and surrender to her care. The truth is, I very much wanted a mother, and most of the time I wanted her to be my mother. (p.179)I would have been good. I would have behaved. Eaten my vegetables, cleaned my room, said “please” and “thank you.” I would have made you love me. Somehow. (p. 297)We have taken our time getting to know one another. Our relationship has had the luxury of a gestation period—a block of time that nature affords to every mother and her offspring. (p. 323)”

“All men have a little badness in them,' she whispered.Milo looked at her. 'Sometimes, honey... a woman can be just as evil as a man.”

“She wanted to feel safe. Untouchable in her home. The ultimate female fantasy.”

“Maybe she wanted too many things. To get closer to Nate - but to just stay friends. To make love with him - but keep her heart uninvolved. To stay with him forever - but never commit.”