In the Midst of Winter

by Isabel Allende

She missed sex, romance, and love. The first of these she could obtain every so often, the second was a matter of luck, and the third was a gift from the gods that would probably never happen, as her daughter had told her more than once.

Busy with their own lives, his parents loved him without smothering him, treating him with mild neglect, as was common in those days before children became projects.

The only cure for so much misfortune is love. It’s not the force of gravity that keeps the universe in balance, but the binding power of love.”

‘In the midst of winter, I finally found there was within me an invincible summer.’ ”