“ Well, I am something, Ma, you hissed, I am not nothing, I am somebody and I know what I want from life and I know what to do to get it. I will provide for myself. Marlene Van Niekerk
“ And I will close my eyes and prepare myself so that they can unscrew my head and allow the map to slip into my lacunae. So that I can be filled and braced from the inside and fortified for the voyage.… Marlene Van Niekerk
“ First smile!! An unseasonal little shower of rain fell here, and a lot of butterflies drowned, so we put them in the sun and they came back to life, and flew up and then Agaat SMILED! Marlene Van Niekerk
“ Everything is important. To the smallest insect, even the mouldering tree, the deepest stone in the drift. Marlene Van Niekerk
