“ You can live for a long time inside the shell you were born in. But one day it'll become too small.""Then what?" I ask."Well, then you'll have to find a larger shell to live in."I consider this for a… Christina Baker Kline
“ Do our natures dictate the choices we make, I wonder, or do we choose to live a certain way because of circumstances beyond our control? Christina Baker Kline
“ She has never tried to find out what happened to her family — her mother or her relatives in Ireland. But over and over, Molly begins to understand as she listens to the tapes, Vivian has come back to… Christina Baker Kline
“ To get it all done I have to dim my brain, turn it down by notches like the flat-turn knob on a gas lantern, leaving only a nub of flame. Christina Baker Kline
“ She is so white-hot furious she can barely see. She stokes the fire of her hatred, feeding it tidbits about bigoted Dina and spineless mushmouth Ralph, because she knows that just beyond the rage is a… Christina Baker Kline
“ I think about all the ways I’ve been perceived by others over the years: as a burden, a dutiful daughter, a girlfriend, a spiteful wretch, an inva Christina Baker Kline
“ So is it just human nature to believe that things happen for a reason — to find some shred of meaning even in the worst experiences?" Molly asks when Vivian reads some of these stories aloud."It certa… Christina Baker Kline
“ The older I get, the more I believe that the greatest kindness is acceptance. Christina Baker Kline
“ The smallest things get to her. It's as if she assumes everything will go right, and when it doesn't -- which, of course, is pretty often -- she is surprised and affronted. Christina Baker Kline
“ I ... am left with the lingering feeling that the places we go in our minds to find comfort have little to do with where our bodies go. Christina Baker Kline
“ I learned long ago that loss is not only probable but inevitable. I know what it means to lose everything, to let go of one life and find another. And now I feel, with a strange, deep certainty, that… Christina Baker Kline
“ I remember her words to me when I left school: Your mind will be your comfort. It is, sometimes. And sometimes it isn't. Christina Baker Kline
“ It's painful to hold out hope for the things that once brought you joy. You have to find ways to make yourself forget. Christina Baker Kline
“ Something inexorable seeds itself in the place of your origin. You can never escape the bonds of family history, no matter how far you travel. Christina Baker Kline
“ Before we leave the gravesite, Mary sings Mother's favorite gospel hymn ...Mary's lovely voice rises and lingers in the air, and by the end of the song most of us are crying. I am too, though I still… Christina Baker Kline
