“What kind of woman was she anyway to give herself to a man just because of some mangroves and a few birds?”

“If a woman could take care of herself, would she still need a man? Would she even want one? And if she didn't want a man, what kind of woman would she be? Would she even be a woman? Because it seemed if you were a woman, the only thing you were really supposed to want was a man.”

“Alas, woman is faithful as long as she loves, but you demand that she be faithful without love and give herself without enjoyment. Who is cruel then, woman or man?”

“Think about it. He drinks poison. What kind of man drinks poison? She is the one who stabs herself with his dagger. The manly way.”

“Virginia Woolf killed herself. She was a lesbian—or maybe she was just a woman writer.”

“Mina thought to herself, watching, her momma was the kind of woman she wanted to be, wherever else she got to in her life.”