“She siged, a sound of regret for childhood transgressions, for all the lessons learned too late.”

“...Jane remained in her chair thinking about justice, about how the dead never benefited from it. For them it always comes too late.”

“Even divorce, she thought, cannot erase all the bonds forged by years of marriage. Long after the papers are signed, decrees notarized, the ties still remain. And the most powerful tie of all is written in a child's flesh and blood.”

“... he knew that the cruelest of blows too often came with a smile.”

“She pressed her fingers to the woman’s neck and felt icy skin.Bending close to the lips, she waited for the whisper of a breath, the faintest puff of air against her cheek.The corpse opened its eyes.”

“She now knew her death was inevitable, and with that acceptance came liberation. The courage of the condemned.”

“Had she always been so insulated from human contact, like a bloom encased in frost?”