“The forty-one-year-old man felt only able to catch and avenge his early suffering through a series of small victories: eating sweet food when he wanted, letting the hearth-fire burn when the sun burned high, leaving the front door open both… — Christina McKenna Copy Share Image
“The burdens he carried in daytime became the demons he fought at night. He” — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“If there was one great benefit to the whole practice of art, it was to focus him in the “now,” where the ugly past… — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“She was a dedicated churchgoer, devoted do-gooder, and throbbing artery of village gossip. She sharpened her tongue on the loose lives of others and… — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“leaving a chink through which Rose could reach to help build for Jamie a whole, hitherto unimagined future. Chapter four “The doctor will see… — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“Those institutions—the so-called “industrial schools,” orphanages and “Magdalene” laundries—were run by certain religious orders in Ireland for the better part of a century, and… — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“The fitting room was small and Jamie felt like an elephant in a shoebox.” — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“Perhaps, she mused, we never really stop being the children we once were.” — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“He would scrub the floors on his hands and knees, beat the rugs, wash the windows and pound the bed linen in the tin… — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“How interesting, she mused, that we pick up and repeat the qualities of those closest to us, like walking reflections, whether they be good… — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“Gladys. Places, of themselves, were rarely at fault, but rather the people who inhabited them.” — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“It took him longer than usual. Every sound—the clanking of the mug as he retrieved it from the crammed sink, the gushing and spitting… — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“they understood that to be bound by another’s needs and wishes was perhaps, in essence, a far more fearful state than being on one’s… — Christina McKenna Copy Share
“All he wanted was to somehow get there, and taste that joy which everyone but him seemed to be experiencing.” — Christina McKenna Copy Share
