The Lonely Hearts Book Club

by Lucy Gilmore

One should never underestimate the staying power of a woman who had literally nowhere else to be.

Life stories were written in ink, not pencil. Once they were down, the only thing you could do was turn the page.

This world was a terrible place. It gave you people to love and then took them away before you stopped loving them. It made you mean and angry and cruel to those who needed you most. It ground you down until it was all you could do to get through the day. But most of all, it tried to convince you that you were alone in your suffering.