Empire of Shadows Quotes

“At that tender age, it had never occurred to Ellie that the life she wanted was an impossibility—that no amount of intelligence and determination would ever overcome the handicap of her gender.”
― Jacquelyn Benson, Empire of Shadows

“A few things, I figured out on my own by doing something stupid and getting lucky enough not to die. Every now and then, I keep that fine tradition alive -- like today, when I threw our boat over a waterfall.”
― Jacquelyn Benson, Empire of Shadows

“Ellie gasped out an incoherent plea. It might have been harder. Or simply yes. It could even have been in Latin. Ellie wasn't entirely sure and did not in the least bit care.”
― Jacquelyn Benson, Empire of Shadows

“Ellie didn't want a husband. Marriage would mean the end of any occupation for her besides managing the household -- a fate even less desirable than being eaten alive by a boa constrictor.”
― Jacquelyn Benson, Empire of Shadows

“You are distracting me,” Ellie grumbled with her eyes on the pencil. “Not as much as I could be,” Adam returned with a wicked grin.”
― Jacquelyn Benson, Empire of Shadows

“is a legal and professional system designed to systematically exclude women in order to force them into lives of domestic slavery! I can’t just walk away from whatever isn’t working for me. I don’t get to bounce into any job tacked up onto the postings board. I can’t just give up”
― Jacquelyn Benson, Empire of Shadows

“She was having trouble wrapping her mind around it. Books were like breathing for her-an extension of her being. She hardly had to think about the fact that she was reading when she did it. The words melted into a stream of beautiful knowledge pouring into her mind.”
― Jacquelyn Benson, Empire of Shadows