“Learn this now and learn it well. Like a compass facing north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.”

“Look at me, Mariam.'Reluctantly, Mariam did.Nana said, 'Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.”

“Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always.”

“Laila imagines she sees little Mariam there in the hut as a woman who will be like a rock in a riverbed, enduring without complaint, her grace not sullied but SHAPED by by the turbulence that washes over her.”

“Mariam always held her breath as she watched him go. She held her breath and, in her head, counted seconds. She pretended that for each second that she didn't breathe God would grant her another day with Jalil.”

“You see, some things I can teach you. Some you learn from books. But there are things that, well, you have to see and feel.”

“I’m all you have in this world Mariam, and when I’m gone you’ll have nothing. You ARE nothing!”