“ They could talk about shallow things without judgment and deep things without self-consciousness. Maile Meloy
“ He was acting like the man he wanted to be, in hopes that he could become him. He would keep acting until he couldn't stand it anymore, and then he would be the man he was. Maile Meloy
“ Benjamin called it estro-lock, the way the two women could talk for hours and lose track of time. They ended up in conversation across any table, screening out noise from kids and men. They could talk… Maile Meloy
“ He held his hands tightly together and cursed his daughter for bringing the terrible world, with its humiliation and longing, back to his door. Maile Meloy
“ Civilization, her mother had told her since she was small, was a series of agreements about what was good for everyone, enforced by law. And civilization was only a thin veneer over the savagery and g… Maile Meloy
“ All the while, Everett felt both the threat of disorder and the steady, thrumming promise of having everything he wanted, all at once. Maile Meloy
“ Yvette had never talked about her marriage - she was a smart girl, and she knew you had no right to complain about someone you got all the way to the altar with. You made that choice, even if you were… Maile Meloy
“ To be a kid is to be invisible and to listen, and to interpret things that aren't necessarily meant for you to hear--because how else do you find out about the world? Maile Meloy
“ Now, alone on the roof, Valentine looked at her shoes and wished people would either stay or go away, but not constantly coming back and leaving again. Maile Meloy
“ When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment, Steven watched the protests and the preparations with interest. The b… Maile Meloy
“ We're creating little hedonists,' Frank used to say. 'Nothing will be as pleasurable as this for the rest of their lives. They'll search everywhere for something that can measure up, and nothing will. Maile Meloy
“ There's a look little girls have who are adored by their fathers, Bea said. It's that facial expression of being totally impervious to the badness of the world. If they can keep that look into their t… Maile Meloy
