“Vasco lived in Mangrove Heights, on a bluff overlooking the river. The first time Jed saw the house, he couldn't help thinking of the Empire of Junk. Towers jostled with gables, beams with columns. Gargoyles leered from the eaves, tongues… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“While still practising law, he'd run a hearse-rental agency. Then, later, he'd bought into a handkerchief factory in Baker Park. Their most famous innovation… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“Vasco bought a bottle of vodka to celebrate and they drank it in the old sailors' graveyard in Mangrove South. This was where the… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“At first he didn't know where he was, whose voice it was. He must have been asleep. And waking suddenly, like that, you woke… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“It was as if Jed had moved from one dimension to another. His original dimension hadn't reported him missing, and his new dimension didn't… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“He woke early the next morning. It was still cool, but he opened the window and, leaning on the ledge, looked down at the… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“He was dropped under a streetlamp, the only person left on the bus. A patch of mauled light. Gritty pavement, scarred with a million… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“You must tell me about it when you do,' she said. 'When you make love for the first time, I mean. I want to… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“That's what birthdays were. Days when you found out where you stood. Who was on your side and who wasn't. Nothing to do with… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“Did I tell you about Anton?" Loots said. Anton?" I shook my head. It was a week ago, Loots said. There had been a… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“Sometimes it seemed as if he'd always been very old. People said that time lasted for ever when you were young. That was lies.… — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
“He looked both proud and guilty of something. As if happiness was a reward and he wasn't sure he'd done enough to deserve it.” — Rupert Thomson Copy Share Image
