“A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after.”

“The books we enjoy as children stay with us forever -- they have a special impact. Paragraph after paragraph and page after page, the author must deliver his or her best work.”

“Love promises happily ever after, it boldly professes forever—but delivers only one thing—a reckless brand of hope.”

“My mother's blood that would last forever after. The blood of my brother, my grandfather, my father. ”

“The two of them were like oil and water. Her older sister was forever stuck in surrogate mommy role. But Viviana had never needed, nor wanted a replacement mother. Fate had seen fit to remove her biological mother, so she figured that was the way it was supposed to be.”

“What she did have, after raising two children, was the equivalent of a PhD in mothering and my undying respect.”