“You were a quiet man, yet you took up a vast amount of silent space and that was what I missed.”

“You see, Armand, there was a new hunger within me, and on some days I can assure you I felt fairly ravenous. The need to read took over me, a delicious and exhilarating hold. The more I read, the hungrier I became. Each book seemed promising, each page I turned offered an escapade, the allure of another world, other destinies, other dreams.”

“You know what I find most shocking about the Vel'd'Hiv?" Guillaume said. "Its code name."I knew the answer to that, thanks to my extensive reading.Operation Spring Breeze, " I murmured.”

“You get attached to places, you know. Like people, I suppose.”

“I took his hand and pressed it hard. I could not bear to look at him any longer, so I closed my eyes and put his hand against my cheek. I cried with him. I felt his fingers grow wet with my tears, but I kept his hand there.”

“Michel. In my dreams, you come and get me. You take me by the hand and you lead me away. This life is too much for me to bear. I look at the key and I long for you and for the past. For the innocent, easy days before the war. I know now my scars will never heal. I hope my son will forgive me. He will never know. No one will ever know.”

“I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror as we glided p. I looked as eroded as the groaning lift. What had happened to the fresh-faced belle from Boston, Mass.? The woman who stared back at me was at the dreaded age between forty-five and fifty, that no-man's land of sag, oncoming wrinkle, and stealthy approach of menopause."I hate this elevator, too," I said grimly.Zoe grinned and pinched my cheek."Mom, even Gwyneth Paltrow would look like hell in that mirror."I had to smile. That was such a Zoe-like remark.”