“A book had always been a door to another world... a world much more interesting and fantastical than reality. But she had finally discovered that life could be even more wonderful than fantasy.And that love could fill the real world with magic.”

“I didn't think there was any way to convinceJack that he wanted more than I had togive, that to people who'd been damaged theway I had been, fear and the will to survivewould always be more powerful than attachment.I could only love in a limited way”

“And then another letter had come from Christopher, so devastating that Amelia wondered how mere scratches of ink on paper could rip someone's soul to shreds. She had wondered how she could feel so much pain and still survive.”

“He never knew what hit him, and that would have comforted me, except . . . just for one second, he would have had to know, wouldn't he? There must have been a blur, a sense of the world exploding, a flashpoint of receiving more damage than a human body could endure. ”

“I was a new person in the same world, which was a lot more difficult than being the same person in a new world.”

“Perhaps only those who had loved and lost could appreciate this magic.”

“She let a teasing tone enter her voice. 'Is there any emergency for which you are not prepared, Mr Swift?''Miss Bowman, if I had enough pockets I could save the world.”