“ You could guarantee a decent cup of coffee in Betty's, but it went beyond the decent coffee and the respectable girls (and women) who had been parcelled up some time in the 1930s and freshly unwrapped… Kate Atkinson
“ Why is everything an 'adventure' with you? Sylvie said irritably to Izzie.Because life is an adventure, of course.I would say it was more of an endurance race, Sylvie said. Or an obstacle course. Kate Atkinson
“ What a good husband you are, Nancy said afterward, always taking your wife's side rather thn your mother's. It's the side of reason I am on, Teddy said, It just so happens that that's where you're alw… Kate Atkinson
“ Ursula’s heart tripped and skipped and flipped at the sight of him. The very object of her affection! The reason she had taken the long way round was on the unlikely chance that she might engineer an… Kate Atkinson
“ This was love. It didn't come free, you paid in pain. Your own. But then nobody ever said love was easy. Well, they did, but they were idiots. Kate Atkinson
“ This is Martin Canning, Neil. He’s written a wonderful book. Fantastic, Neil Winters said, shaking Martin’s hand. His hand was damp and soft and made Martin think of something dead you might pick up o… Kate Atkinson
“ They’re definitely going to declare war tomorrow. In the morning. It’s probably timed so that the nation can get down on its collective knees in church and pray for deliverance.’ ‘Oh, yes, war is alwa… Kate Atkinson
“ Some might count sheep. Teddy counted the towns and cities he had tried to destroy, that had tried to destroy him. Perhaps they had succeeded. Kate Atkinson
“ She'd had a glimpse of a possible future-the pretty cottage, the garden full of flowers and vegetables, bread in the oven, a bowl of strawberries on the table, the happy baby hitched on her hip while… Kate Atkinson
“ She supposed she was a little cog in the big wheel of Empire. Nothing wrong with being a cog, Maurice said, himself now a big wheel in the Home Office. The world needs cogs. Kate Atkinson
“ She had never been without a book for as long as she could remember. An only child never is. Kate Atkinson
“ Sacrifice, by its nature, was predicated on giving, not receiving. ‘Sacrifice,’ he remembered Kate Atkinson
“ Really she was just like everyone else, she wanted to love someone. Even better if they loved you in return. She was considering getting a cat. She didn’t really like cats though. That might be a bit… Kate Atkinson
“ Personally, I don’t think it right to make up things about real people—although I suppose there’s an argument for saying that once you’re dead you’re not real any more. But then we have to define what… Kate Atkinson
“ Mum had worshipped Princess Di and frequently lamented her passing. Gone, she would say, shaking her head in disbelief. Just like that. All that exercise for nothing. Kate Atkinson
“ Juliet and Hartley had long ago abandoned manners with each other. It was refreshing to behave without respect towards someone. Kate Atkinson
