“Police officers put up barbed wire around their hearts to protect them.”

“This is my barbed wire dress. It protects the property but doesn't hide the view.”

“How could I remain unyielding? His words penetrated the flimsy barriers I’d set up around my heart. I’d meant to set up a barbed wire fence, but the barbs ended up being covered with marshmallows. He slipped through my defenses easily. He touched his forehead to my hand, and my marshmallow heart melted.”

“And you, Bloss, may shove it ... sideways ... with barbed wire wrapped around it.”

“But I do, and the barbed wire tightens once more, until my heart is strangled and broken.”

“This was the Karachi now – barbed wires protecting consulates, the pretentious covering themselves with faces of those who were hiding behind those barbed wires. This was Karachi – gaudy and luxurious, with a façade of glamor, ignoring the truth underneath. But Sophie was no cynic, and still loved the city she had returned to. ‘You can’t hate what’s yours,’ she smiled to herself.”