““There were times, and this was one of them, when Rebecca quietly yearned for twentieth-century definitions of civility, when commonly shared air was meant to be filled with words generally agreed to be suitable for all. But in the years after Rebecca’s travels through the silent world, the exodus of its former citizens was nearly complete—the only people who remained were the ones who could not afford to leave.””
![“Nina could scarcely believe a house could be as quiet as the one on Washington Street. Although there were moments when she missed her children, her main response to living apart from her husband was relief…[H]er current solitude was not just a respite, it was a time to contemplate her future…” quote by Jean Elson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e9f/jean-elson-62560_adultery_nina-could-scarcely-believe-a-house-coul_2744625.jpg)
