Victoria Thompson > Quotes

“One woman couldn’t change the world. She could just make small parts of it better.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Astor Place

“Yet sometimes the world judges females by a different standard and seeks to punish them unjustly.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder in Murray Hill

“I want to know why you don’t like me, Malloy. I like you, even if you do hit people.”
He sighed. “I never said I didn’t like you, Mrs. Brandt.”
Reasonable again. She wanted to smack him. “And why don’t you ever call me Sarah? You think I’m beautiful, but you never call me Sarah.”
He muttered something she didn’t understand.
“You do think I’m beautiful,” she insisted. “You said so!”
“Yes, I do,” he said grudgingly. “And I do like you, Sarah. Now let’s talk about something else, because you’re going to be very embarrassed if you remember any of this conversation tomorrow.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Washington Square

“And I still want to know why you hit that man in front of me. You wanted me to see it, didn’t you?”
“Why would I want you to see it?”
Sarah was getting very annoyed with him. He usually wasn’t this dense. “Because you wanted me to think badly of you, and I demand to know why!”
“You do, do you?” he said in a very odd tone.
“Yes, I do, and I’m not getting out of this cab until you tell me!”
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“Then what do you want?”
She knew he was looking at her, although she doubted he could see very much in the darkness. “I want to show you,” he said.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Washington Square

“Did you take a vow of poverty or something?"
"This is a housedress, Malloy," she said, indignant again. "I was cleaning when you came. I gave my other clothes away because I got some new ones. From my mother."
"Did your mother take a vow of poverty?”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend

“Try not to dwell on what you might have done differently. You cannot change the past, and it only spoils the future.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder in Chelsea

“Was that all it took?"
"What?" she asked, completely bewildered.
"To shut you up," he clarified with a definite grin this time. "All it took was agreeing with you."
She glared at him. "If you'd ever tried agreeing with me before, you'd have known that," she snapped.
"I had to wait until you were right about something," he replied, then hurried to open the door before she could smack him, which she dearly wanted to do.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Waverly Place

“Churches are full of sinners, not saints,”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Lenox Hill

“Near as she could figure, government was just the biggest of the big cons, with everybody trying to get the best of it for themselves and sting the other guys.”
― Victoria Thompson, City of Lies

“She remembered how her parents had warned her about Malloy, and she remembered how Malloy warned her about Malloy. Too many things to remember.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend

“It wasn’t Sarah. Sarah wasn’t dead.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend

“Frank pitied anyone naïve enough to believe they could predict with certainty how another human being would act.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Lenox Hill

“Why did people think having a job was such a great thing? No matter how much fun you had the night before, you still had to get up early, get shaved and dressed, and go to some business where people expected you to be pleasant and do some work.”
― Victoria Thompson, City of Shadows

“Too many guilty people get off scot-free if they have money or influence.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Lenox Hill

“Influenza. Remember, Elizabeth, I had it back in the spring? A lot of other people did, too. It wasn’t too bad, although I do hate to be sick, but it’s back now, with a vengeance.”
― Victoria Thompson, City of Scoundrels

“Powerful men have been using their daughters to settle business arrangements for centuries, Mr Malloy.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Astor Place -- 1999 publication

“intricate patterns on the pavement. Her enormous brown eyes glittered with happiness at the attention she had attracted. Sarah wasn’t the only passerby who had stopped to watch, entranced. Then the song ended, and the gathered crowd applauded. The girl bobbed a curtsey and looked around expectantly. In a moment, coins appeared, fished from pockets and purses and offered in tribute. The coins disappeared again as if by magic, spirited away by little fingers as nimble as the little feet had been and deposited into the pocket of her dress. While the crowd disbursed, the girl turned and hurried back to the man who had produced the music. That was when Sarah recalled her purpose in being here. The child was emptying her pocket and giving the coins to a handsome youth who sat on a small stool with his back against the building. He held the organ between his knees, resting on a small stand. He wore a dark shirt and trousers and had a red bandanna tied rakishly at his throat. He looked so perfect that Sarah almost didn’t notice the wooden crutches tucked discreetly between his stool and the wall. Finally, she saw the pant leg pinned up at the ankle. She’d never expected Georgio to have a child, which was why she’d been so slow to realize she’d found him. Taking advantage of this lull, she stepped over to where the man and the girl were conversing in Italian. There seemed to be some question about whether she’d given him all the coins she’d collected. “Georgio?” Sarah tried. He looked up from beneath the bill of his small cap. His eyes were dark and liquid, his smile big and bright and charming. “Si, Signorina, do you want to see the little one dance?” His English was very good, probably honed from conversing with his customers. “No, although she dances very well,” Sarah added, giving the child an approving smile, in case she didn’t understand the compliment. “I wanted to ask you about your sister Emilia.” His charming smile vanished, and the dark eyes grew wary. “She is dead,” he said very carefully. “I know. I’m very sorry.” “Who are you and what do you want?” he asked suspiciously. When he frowned, Sarah realized how much he looked like his mother. “My name is Sarah Brandt, and I met Emilia at the Prodigal Son Mission.” His expression hardened from wariness into anger. Plainly, none of the Donato family had any love for the mission. “She was such a lovely girl, and she was trying very hard to become a respectable young woman,” Sarah hurried on, wishing she had some idea how Georgio felt about his sister. Seeing that the grown-ups were going to talk a bit, the little girl sank down onto the pavement with a weary sigh and leaned back against the wall. Sarah wondered vaguely how many times she”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend

“Lonely people could make terrible mistakes if they weren’t careful. She’d been careful for too long to risk it now.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend

“in-law told her she’d have to leave?” Maria shrugged. “She was”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder in Little Italy

“Women don’t vote, so they don’t have to pay attention to what we want. If we could vote, though, they’d have to pay attention, and they’d have to pass the laws we want.”
― Victoria Thompson, City of Lies

“Fascination seldom survives long acquaintance, as I’m sure you know.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend

“She couldn’t know everything about him, of course, because even Sarah didn’t know that he was in love with her. But Mrs. Decker knew enough.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Marble Row

“Wooten, for any reason, you would have a difficult time even bringing”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Lexington Avenue

“The Checkered Game of Life was a real game, invented by a young draftsman named Milton Bradley in 1860. Checkered referred both to the board, which was patterned like a checkerboard, and also to the checkered way life sometimes goes. No dice were included because of their connection to gambling and because”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Trinity Place

“The dead woman was Sarah Brandt.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend

“the city,” he said diplomatically.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Washington Square