Her First Lie Quotes

“Hearing Lillian call us family felt so good. What would it be like to have family support? To have someone to call if something broke down or I needed money for textbooks. I always marveled at the other kids in college whose wealthy parents or grandparents paid their rent or bought them houses to live in while they went to school. Gave them cars to drive. Weekly allowances on their debit cards. I never understood how any of them didn’t get straight As when the only thing they had to focus on was school. Did Lillian really plan on continuing to help out”
― Lucinda Berry, Her First Lie

“Children rarely confirmed abuse—they almost always denied it. That’s what happened when your very survival was dependent on the people hurting you.”
― Lucinda Berry, Her First Lie

“Just like in foster care—nobody ever wants the big kids. They only want the babies.”
― Lucinda Berry, Her First Lie

“Being a good mother meant putting your child’s needs above your own. You had to take care of the family that you’d created, no matter what.”
― Lucinda Berry, Her First Lie

“My entire life I’d been a shape-shifter. I didn’t have any other choice if I wanted to survive. I’ve never been free to be the person I was on the inside. It wasn’t safe. It was one of the reasons I preferred being by myself—I didn’t have to wear a mask. But see, that was the problem. Why people’s love never reached me. Because they were just loving the character I presented to them. The one on the outside.”
― Lucinda Berry, Her First Lie