“why Phoebe always dipped her food into tea before she ate it (she said she had soft teeth and didn’t want to lose them before she got too old to catch a husband).” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“Elisabeth was the same as ever, and I was the same as ever around her; no longer a confident college senior, I was diminished… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“Who was this woman before me, her face imprinted with the expectations of others? I was Mom. I was Wife. I was Tragedy. I… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
Why were there so many barriers between us, always? Barriers of clothing, of etiquette, of time and age and reason. — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“my breath sour against my fist, which I still held to my mouth as if this was a sorrow that could be stifled.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“And this was the greatest gift that aviation could ever give me; not the sense of freedom but the sense of permanence, coupling, of… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“ashamed of it even as I craved it. “Oh, she does! There’s a party tomorrow,” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“Now and adult, allowed a glimpse of these first cracks in my family's perfect surface, I couldn't help but wonder what else I didn't… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“To live for oneself is a terrifying prospect; there is comfort in martyrdom... p 364” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“For I can think of no fate drearier than sitting at home...for the rest of my life, watching all of you go off one… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“And this—instead of happiness—would be only what the two of us deserved, after all.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“...all his smiles were just a little sad around the edges, as if he knew happiness never could last very long” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“And I did not speak German well; I found the language harsh and guttural, my ear simply couldn’t find it pleasing, and so my… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
