Thea

“She knew that stories did have the power to change things: the past and the future, even the present. She had been an agnostic since graduate school, but if there was one tenet of Judaism with which she agreed, it was this: the power of words. They weaseled under door cracks and through keyholes. They hooked into individuals and wormed through generations.”
― Chloe Benjamin, The Immortalists

“In Simon’s voice, he heard the siren song of family—how it pulls you despite all sense; how it forces you to discard your convictions, your righteous selfhood, in favor of profound dependence.”
― Chloe Benjamin, The Immortalists

“If my diary is ever published, it can’t be called Old Sore. I have come up with the following alternatives: 1. Down the Drain 2. The Living End 3. Over and Out 4. Not the Bee’s Knees 5. The Last Hurrah 6. Smoke Signals in a Hurricane (Sounds good but doesn’t really apply here) 7. Flies on the Caviar (ditto)”
― Hendrik Groen, The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old

“Once, long ago, Dory and her infant daughter were riding a bus in the city, when an old woman leaned over and said, “May I tell you something, dear?” She had a kind face full of valleys and faults. Dory imagined she was about to describe the baby’s beauty—in particular, the curve of the mouth—and she made her own mouth assume a knowing, pleased modesty. But what the woman said, leaning even closer, was, “You will never have another day in your life that is free of anxiety.”
― Meg Wolitzer, The Uncoupling: A Novel