Daughter Quotes

“When you are young you have no idea what you will need as time passes or how strong you might have to be.”
― Jane Shemlit, The Daughter

“I know them so well I hardly see them. That was what happened with Naomi too. I stopped seeing her because I knew her by heart.”
― Jane Shemlit, The Daughter

“thought I was done with this torture, but this is a bad day when thoughts slide along memories, sharpening them like knives.”
― Jane Shemlit, The Daughter

“The trick was simply to balance it all. Family. Marriage. Career. Painting. If the balance tipped in one direction and work took up more time, no one complained. It sometimes felt as if I was rehearsing for real life, so if it went wrong it didn’t matter. One day I would have it all organized. I would be the perfect mother, wife, doctor, artist. It was just a question of practice. If I made mistakes, I could simply try again.”
― Jane Shemlit, The Daughter

“God knows how you do it all. I’ve only got one and Cathy’s at home all the time.” I didn’t like it when people said that. As if I must be cheating. There was no magic. It wasn’t even difficult. I just had to keep going, and I knew exactly how to do that. Sometimes it felt as though I was escaping from one life to another and back again. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was escaping from each time, but it seemed to work; I told my friends it gave me a built-in excuse if something went wrong. Over time I’d realized that if it meant I had to leave the children to sort themselves out, they usually did.”
― Jane Shemlit, The Daughter

“Was that what happened as children grew? A process so gradual that in the future I would never be able to pinpoint the exact moment when I became just a figure in their hinterland, watching from a distance.”
― Jane Shemlit, The Daughter

“My oil painting of Mary’s hands is on the table. They look like claws, the fingers deformed by rheumatism, the skin shiny and puffed. She calls them her witch hands, but they make tea, hold eggs and garden tools, bake bread. I’ve painted them loosely open for her kindness. If Mary is a witch, she is a good witch.”
― Jane Shemlit, The Daughter

“Write down what he said, if you can.” Michael reached into his bag and gave me a blank piece of paper, already neatly attached to a clipboard. He felt in his”
― Jane Shemlit, The Daughter