“Writers of historical fiction would be lost without libraries and archives.”

“You stand for what is right, Lina, without the expectation of gratitude or reward.”

“I planted a seed of hatred in my heart. I swore it would grow to be a massive tree whose roots would strangle them all.”

“How did I get here How did I end up in the arms of a boy I barely knew but knew I didn't want to lose I wondered what I would have thought of Andrius in Lithuania. Would I have liked him Would he have liked me”

“I shut the bathroom door and caught sight of my face in the mirror. I had no idea how quickly it was to change, to fade. If I had, I would have stared at my reflection, memorizing it. It was the last time I would look into a real mirror for more than a decade.”

“If I poured all the lies I had told into the Mississippi, the river would rise and flood the city.”

“Be in control of your piece, Jo. The minute it takes control of you, you’re dead,” Willie would tell me.”