What Ronnie herself wanted was to live in that place she considered beautiful, where she could be of use, and in the paradoxical paradise of a falling-down house be free to live inside her mind. That this was a richness she had come to understand first through reading novels meant that they had a special place in her life, a good one better than the company of ten people. Not that you could say that aloud or explain it to a sister whose thoughts never came in paragraphs.
