Books Quote by Cathy Ostlere
““Women can go mad with insomnia. The sleep-deprived roam houses that have lost their familiarity. With tea mugs in hand, we wander rooms, looking on shelves for something we will recognize: a book title, a photograph, the teak-carved bird -- a souvenir from what place? A memory almost rises when our eyes rest on a painting's grey sweep of cloud, or the curve of a wooden leg in a corner. Fingertips faintly recall the raised pattern on a chair cushion, but we wonder how these things have come to be here, in this stranger's home. Lost women drift in places where time has collapsed. We look into our thoughts and hearts for what has been forgotten, for what has gone missing. What did we once care about? Whom did we love? We are emptied. We are remote. Like night lilies, we open in the dark, breathe in the shadowy world. Our soliloquies are heard by no one.””
About This Quote
Source Poem: “Lost Women” (published 2020, literary journal)
Sleep‑deprived women wander unfamiliar homes, seeking familiar objects to anchor memory, feeling empty and remote.
In simple terms: Women search for familiar things in strange places.
Key Takeaway
Seek connection to memory and identity.
Themes
memory
identity
disorientation
loneliness
Mood
melancholic
reflective
Type
poetic
literary
When to use this quote
- nighttime wandering
- home visits
- memory recall
- creative writing
Key Concepts
nostalgia
place attachment
psychological drift
Questions to Reflect On
- What objects anchor your sense of self?
- How does unfamiliarity affect memory?
A Different Perspective
The metaphor may idealize insomnia.
![“Remembering her, it is as if my heart were buried in the rain. Again I think it’s she, but why would she be coming now? Oh, what sad days! […] Your eyes : two sleepy cups darkened by purple berries from the forest undergrowth. What a leaf, a leaf from a white vine, fragrant and heavy, I could have…” quote by Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d46/pablo-neruda-435_rain_remembering-her-it-is-as-if-my-heart-wer_3223179.jpg)
