“ One could lose everything in the blink of an eye, the slip of a foot. One must avoid dark thoughts at all costs. Kate Atkinson
“ Olivia was her only beautiful child. Julia, with her dark curls and snub nose, was pretty but her character wasn't, Sylvia --- poor Sylvia, what could you say? And Amelia was somehow ...bland, but Oli… Kate Atkinson
“ Nancy fell in love with Viola at first sight of her. A coup de foudre, she said, more intense and overwhelming than any form of romantic love. Mother and daughter were each a world to the other, compl… Kate Atkinson
“ Moments left, Teddy thought. A handful of heartbeats. That was what life was. A heartbeat followed by a heartbeat. A breath followed by a breath. One moment followed by another moment and then there w… Kate Atkinson
“ Love. Love wasn’t sweet and light, it was visceral and overpowering. Love wasn’t patient, love wasn’t kind. Love was ferocious, love knew how to play dirty. Kate Atkinson
“ Love at first sight, she wrote giddily to Millie. But of course such feelings weren't 'true' love (that was what she would feel for a child one day), merely the false grandeur of madness. Kate Atkinson
“ Literature had fuelled her childhood fantasies and convinced her that one day she would be the heroine of her own narrative. Kate Atkinson
“ Juliet sighed and wondered if one day she would think herself to death. Was that possible? And would it be painful? Kate Atkinson
“ Jennifer had never liked the pain of remembering what had happened, but for Theo it was the pain that kept Laura alive in his memory. He was afraid that if it ever began to heal she would disappear. Kate Atkinson
“ It wasn't fair, he thought peevishly. Who said life was fair? his father had said to him a hundred times. He had said the same himself to his own daughter. (It's not fair, Daddy.) Parents were miserab… Kate Atkinson
“ It was possible, she thought, that she had won the race to reach the end of civilization. There was no prize. Obviously. Kate Atkinson
“ It was extraordinary how far you could go in London and barely touch a pavement or cross a road. Kate Atkinson
“ In the prosperous household of Sylvie's childhood, Cook was called 'Cook' but Mrs Glover preferred 'Mrs Glover'. It made her irreplaceable. Sylvie still stubbornly referred to her as Cook. Kate Atkinson
“ In the end we all arrive at the same place. I hardly see that it matters how we get there. It seemed to Ursula that you got there was the whole point. Kate Atkinson
“ I think we should begin with a little exercise to flex our writing muscles,’ Martha said, speaking very slowly as if she was on prescription drugs but I think it was just her way of trying to communic… Kate Atkinson
“ I heard someone say once that hindsight was a wonderful thing, that without it there would be no history. Kate Atkinson
“ I have been to the world's end and back and now I know what I would put in my bottom drawer. I would put my sisters. Kate Atkinson
