Paper Ghosts Quotes

“Gram calls photographs paper ghosts. She says they’re the only ghosts everyone can see.”

“I’m officially changing the subject.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“The person who takes the photo, after all, is the person who shapes history.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“It seemed appropriate that the end of this fairy tale included enchanted roses.
Bailey still wasn’t sure if she believed in a happily ever after.
Did anyone really know for sure?
But at least she believed in being happy now.
And that, she was certain, was a very good start.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“I don’t mean any disrespect to your grandmother, but her story has the same problem fairy tales have. They teach us that the hard thing is always the right thing, like a happily ever after is contingent on misery. But you don’t have to suffer to be happy, Bailey. Sometimes it’s not hard at all.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“What I'm trying to tell you, the whole purpose of this long-overdue story, is please don't let your past define you like it defined me. Experience the moments, even the bad ones, then leave them behind. And most importantly, when you find happiness, don't hesitate. Run with it."
Bailey stared at the photo. She finally sighed and said, "I love you, Mim."
Willamena tilted her head curiously. "But you don't believe me."
"I believe you told me for me. And that's enough."
"I love you, too. Although that's probably hard for you to believe, as well."
Bailey got up and kissed her on the cheek. She extended the Polaroid, but Willamena shook her head.
"My grandmother used to call photographs paper ghosts, the only ghosts everyone can see," she said. "Keep that to remind you to focus on what's real.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“It’s a fallacy that real love changes you, Bailey. Real love destroys you. And it makes you grateful to be destroyed, because the new person you become is the person you were always meant to be. There’s nothing unclear about it.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“There’s a walk-in freezer full of Halloween tea ice cream that I have no idea what to do with. By the time my mother was tracked down as Ruby’s heir, the power here had already been cut off. I cleaned out the melted gloop from the display cases, but the freezer has its own backup generator.”
“Let me guess,” she said. “Blackberry and the Ghost of Earl Grey Tea. Jack-o’-Lantern Pumpkin Chai. And Witches’ Brew Pistachio and Green Tea.”
“You are correct,” he said, like a game show host.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“Hen Town plays by its own rules.”
“I’m beginning to see that. I like this town, but the longer I stay the more it requires a certain suspension of disbelief. It’s like I found my way into a novel.”
He opened the door wider, and she finally entered. The place still smelled of waffle cones— a crisp, brown, sugary scent that instantly catapulted anyone who smelled it into a specific childhood memory.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“Bailey reached downtown. She was greeted by a tarnished marker embedded into the sidewalk, the first in a series of sidewalk markers giving local history for tourists to follow as the walked. This one read: Hen Town was built on what was once the largest chicken farm in the state of North Carolina, called Wester's Blue Eggs because it was the only color their hens would lay. The Wester family sold the land, and a community was formed. Hen Town is named in their honor.
She went first to the drugstore called the Rx Roost and bought the bleach kit. Then she went to Mother Hen's Frozen Tea, but they weren't open yet, so she got in line next door for coffee. The Java Chicken had all manner of Hen Town-themed coffee on the menu, one with egg foam, another that was chicken-and-waffle flavored, and it was always full of tourists.
When she finally got her cup, she sat on one of the benches facing the courthouse, where the turning leaves of the sugar maples looked like green apples with candy glaze being poured over them.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“It was a heady time for Tasha. There was so much new happening, and with each new experience came its own scent. There was anticipation, which smelled like wintergreen. And hope, the rubbery, powdery-covered scent of a balloon.
But in a matter of weeks, there would also be disappointment.
Which, interestingly enough, smelled exactly like candy corn.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“She took a big, deep breath through her nose.
“What do you smell?” Pam asked.
Instead of saying nothing this time, Tasha said, “It’s something sweet. Like a bakery.”
“That, my darling,” Pam said, “is what happiness smells like.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“Your hair actually moves. It's like you took off your armor."
She was suddenly self-conscious, years of her grandmother telling her to never be seen as anything less than perfect ingrained in her. "Don't tell anyone. Westers aren't supposed to show weaknesses."
"And hair spray is your weapon of choice?"
"You can't crack shellac," she said.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“As time passes and stories fade, photos are the only things left for people who are gone, saying simply, I was here.”
― Sarah Addison Allen Allen, Paper Ghosts

“My interest was only in the guitar player, never the guitar.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts

“Last summer, Wills and her two best friends had spent hours in her bathroom, perfecting feathering their hair, which they collectively decided would be their signature style as seniors. They were going out on a high note, this last year as an inseparable group. When they’d walked into school on the first day, students had actually parted in the hallway as they’d passed. Buck Pringle had whistled and said, “Nice hair, Wills!”
Hearing that, Jani’s jealousy began to simmer so hot Wills could see the haze around her. It didn’t bother Wills. She was used to it. Part of her even admired that Jani wanted more than the life she’d been born into. So Wills had called back, “We’re all the Feathers, and don’t you forget it!”
They were the most popular girls in school, but that’s what they’d been missing, a pack name. So the moniker stuck.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Paper Ghosts