“the loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. it was a fine cry -- loud and long -- but it had no bottom and no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.”

“It was a fine cry - loud and long - but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.”

“O Lord, Sula,” she cried, “girl, girl, girlgirlgirl.”It was a fine cry—loud and long—but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.”

“The bottom had arrived. She crashed against it, but it brought no sense of closure or understanding. She just lay there at the bottom looking up. She knew there must be a very tiny circle of light up there somewhere, but just now she couldn’t see it.”

“Fine,' Aria conceded. 'But *I'll* carry her.' She grabbed the baby seeat from the back. A smell of baby powder wafted up to greet her, bringing a lump in her throat. Her father Byron, and his girlfriend, Meredith, had just had a baby, and she loved Lola with all her heart. If she looked too long at this baby, she might love her just as much.”

“She was like a candle that just went out. All the circles that made her up suddenly got lopsided and warped.”