“Oh God, Frankie, I breathe in rhythm with that man. You think that's not my flesh and blood after all these years?”

“He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Okay, would you like pizza?""I don't think you deserve my company but I feel sorry for you so I'll say yes.""God help me," he said, half under his breath.”

“It's too late. Seventeen-year-olds don't need fathers.Oh god. I'm thirty-four years old and I need a father. I can't even begin to think what my daughter needs.”

“So between you and me," I tell Justine on the phone that night, "we're either bitchy or stupid.""Oh God," she moans. "Everyone thinks I'm an idiot.""Thanks!”

“If I did something to hurt Frankie and she said that I was never getting near her heart again, I’d spent the rest of my life trying anyway. That’s the difference between you and me, Tom. I’d go back to the moment it all fell apart and I’d start there.”

“Once, last year, I started going through my sins and Father Stephen said, "Oh, it's you, Josie." Can you believe it? He recognised me by my sins. I'm so boring that I can't even change my sins from term to term.”

“I just want it to go back to the way it was.""It'll never go back to the way it was, Frankie. But you have to make sure it goes forward.”