In the Midst of Winter

by Isabel Allende

“Soldiers committing atrocities against people who are just like them, from the same race and class, born into the same bottomless misery. It’s true they were following orders, but they carried them out intoxicated by the most addictive drug: power with impunity.” “You and I have been lucky, Benito, because we’ve never tried that drug. If you had power and impunity, would you make the guilty suffer as much as they do their victims?” she asked.

“My Christian faith keeps failing me, Nuria. I guess it must be because I’m just a dumb Basque like my father, God rest his soul. If I’d been born in Luxembourg perhaps I wouldn’t be so indignant.” “We need more angry people like you in this world, Benito.”

“The lack of a father leaves a hole in a woman’s heart, Lucia. A girl needs to feel she is protected; she needs masculine energy to develop trust in men and later to be able to give herself in love. What’s the female version of the Oedipus complex? Electra? You didn’t have it. That’s why you’re so independent and jump from one love to the next, forever searching for the security of a father.”

“Keep your tears, Pilar Saravia, you’re going to need them later on,” Cabrera

“This girl is a refugee. No one is illegal in this life, we all have the right to live in this world. Money and crime do not respect borders. I ask you, sir, why we human beings should do so?” “I don’t make the laws. My job is to see that they are followed,” replied the other man, taken aback. “Take a good look at her. How old do you think she is?” said Galileo, pointing to Evelyn.

Over the past two days he had lost confidence in what he thought he knew and in the illusion of being in control. He had accepted that he knew very little and controlled even less, but was no longer frightened by this uncertainty. During their night of shared secrets, Lucia had told him that life always asserts itself, but does so more fully if we accept it without resisting.

“I don’t know how to pray, Lucia.” “Everyone does it in their own way. For me, praying is relaxing and trusting in the mystery of existence.” “Is that God for you?” “Call it whatever you like, Richard, but give Evelyn and me your hands while we form a circle. We’re going to help Kathryn and her little one go up to heaven.”