"Sometimes I couldn't figure it out, what all the living was for."
- Jane Hamilton
"He thought there must be a place, like a dead-letter office, where everyone's longing went, yearning that was sent out, day after day. He thought it must collect somewhere, in a dank basement room, th..."
"Emma, Emma, Emma," I said, wishing I could somehow teach her to take the smaller blows of life in her stride."
"She could never be part of so much of his turbulent history, his youthful adventure, where life had been deeply felt."