“Men are essentially useless for the difficult things in life. For births and deaths, one clearheaded woman is more useful than a half-dozen men.”

“I think I’d rather be branded than submit to some of the things that you have to.” He said this without spite, just a soft statement of fact. “I’m not strong enough to do that.”

“I was afraid to be Outside alone, without Elijah. But, no matter what, I would have to get used to his absence. I would have to prove to him and to myself that I could.”

“For me, that was love. Tangible. Love was what was in front of me, not a distant fantasy.”

“There was a difference, I had decided, between knowing and believing. And I wanted both.”

“I wanted the syrupy taste of this small rebellion. And this stupid machine was denying that bit of freedom to me . . . just like everyone else.”

“You have done well, Katie,” Frau Gerlach said. “You would make a fine midwife someday, if you ever wished to learn.”I cast my eyes down, exhausted and shy and afraid and proud all at once. “All I have managed so far is to be a midwife to the puppies.”She reached out to pat my cheek with a bloody hand. “God smiles on those who quietly do his dirty work, my girl.”