The Women Behind the Door Quotes

“one should have to have middle-aged children. No one should have to look at them. They should be taken”
― Roddy Doyle, The Women Behind the Door

“get to Maisie’s age, or – max – eighteen. Job done, good or bad. Leave your ma alone. Her life is her own now – the rest of her poxy life is hers.”
― Roddy Doyle, The Women Behind the Door

“—It’s some measurement, said Nicola. —Some gauge. Isn’t it? Does he batter you? —I know –. —What about does he bore you? Or does he annoy you? Does the prospect of spending the rest of your life with him fill you with dread? —Is that what you feel? —I don’t know what I feel, said Nicola. —I don’t know if I feel. I don’t know. And I don’t know why it’s all about Tony. What’s wrong with Tony, what’s right about Tony. There’s nothing wrong or right. I don’t want to be a wife. I think I know that much.”
― Roddy Doyle, The Women Behind the Door

“She wants her home back. She wants her nice life back. She wishes Nicola would fuck off and leave her alone. The Charlo damage, the real Charlo pain – it isn’t physical. It never was, once the bones were mended and the bruises faded back behind her skin. The real damage – she can’t face her children, not even in her imagination. They’re like a jury and she’s always guilty – she knows she’s guilty. Nothing will ever make her know or feel any different. He battered the mother out of her.”
― Roddy Doyle, The Women Behind the Door

“No one should have to have middle-aged children. No one should have to look at them. They should be taken away when they get to Maisie’s age, or – max – eighteen. Job done, good or bad. Leave your ma alone. Her life is her own now – the rest of her poxy life is hers.”
― Roddy Doyle, The Women Behind the Door

“She knows she’s smiling. She can smile as long as she keeps going forward. There’s nothing ahead she has to worry about.”
― Roddy Doyle, The Women Behind the Door

“Joe read two papers on Sundays, cover to cover. He went out in any weather to get them. A war outside wouldn’t have stopped him. Joe’s habits weren’t just habits. A couple of months in Joe’s company had taught Paula that there was more to addiction than alcohol and betting.”
― Roddy Doyle, The Women Behind the Door