Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread Quotes

“I saw goats. A party can’t be all bad when you have goats,” Lucy said.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“It’s just a party. You eat some food and drink a beer and pretend you don’t want to be crawdad fishing,” Angie said.
“No, it’s an echo chamber of sycophants and I can’t listen to some bimbo recite her newest purchases while pretending I don’t want to throw myself from the roof.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Linnie. And this Winnie.” They wore identical smiles, their bright black eyes sparked with curiosity. “Are you the doctor?”
“No, I’m just volunteering.”
“I knowed that, too.” Winnie gave her an exaggerated shake of the head. “Girls is never the doctor. They’s the nurses.”
“Oh no, what about Dr. Clare? Huh? The lady doctor who took care of Grammy in the hospital when she broke her hip bone?” Linnie asked.
“Yeah, but she was a white lady. They can be doctors.” Winnie looked at Lucy. “Right? There are white lady doctors. I seen ‘em.”
Lucy felt her eyes go wide. Were there children who still believed your gender or color dictated your career? “There are white lady doctors, black lady doctors, white man doctors, black man doctors.”
They stared at her.
She thought for a moment. “And there are white man nurses and black man nurses, too.”
“Now you’re just bein’ silly,” Linnie said and let out a laugh.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Lucy gripped her chilled glass of orange and raspberry juice. When Rebecca talked about Austen, she’d mostly mentioned Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightley. She hadn’t really thought of the doe-eyed, pale-skinned heroines.
On the screen, Anne Elliot walked down a long hallway, glancing just once at covered paintings, her mouth a grim line. Lucy thought Jane Austen would start the story with the romance, or the loss of it, but instead the tale seemed to begin with Anne’s home, and having to make difficult decisions. Maybe this writer from over two hundred years ago knew how everything important met at the intersection of family, home, love, and loss. This was something Lucy understood with every fiber of her being.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Sometimes, you just needed a friend to sit on your couch and watch your favorite movie. They”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“I have a bad feeling about this,” she said.
“We’ll fake it. And if push comes to shove, we can just sing Goober Peas and waltz around.”
“Rebecca might not find that very funny.”
“Rebecca is a Northerner. You can tell because there aren’t any cheese straws on the snack table.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Lucy saw the delighted expressions of the guests and knew they looked like something out an Austen movie. Well, at least Jem did. She giggled a little and cleared her throat.
“Something funny?” he murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
“Just thinking how you’re just like Captain Wentworth and I’m just like Tina Turner.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Ah, a romantic.” Danny leaned back, threading his fingers behind his head. “I used to be one, until my wife died. And then I was just pathetic.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Her face crumpled and he felt her pain as if it were his own. He wanted to take it back, but just like that memory, it was always going to be there.
She worked to get control over her features, then said, “I’m sorry I didn’t defend you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell them you were my guest.”
Jem hadn’t thought he cared anymore, not really, but her words were tugging loose the hard, painful knot in his chest. “It’s okay.”
She shook her head. “It’s not. It wasn’t.”
He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. He didn’t know what else to say and all he wanted was to touch her skin, let her know that he wasn’t that boy anymore and that she wasn’t that girl.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Her face crumpled and he felt her pain as if it was his own. He wanted to take it back, but just like that memory, it was always going to be there.
She worked to get control over her features, then said, “I’m sorry I didn’t defend you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell them you were my guest.”
Jem hadn’t thought he cared anymore, not really, but her words were tugging loose the hard, painful knot in his chest. “It’s okay.”
She shook her head. “It’s not. It wasn’t.”
He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. He didn’t know what else to say and all he wanted was to touch her skin, let her know that he wasn’t that boy anymore and that she wasn’t that girl.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Maybe I should have got some chili-slaw dogs from Shorty’s. Everybody loves those.”
“Buddy,” Lars said, dropping his shoes to the deck with a thump, “sit yourself down and stop fussing. You’re reminding me of my Aunt Glynna with all this temperature takin’ and foil tuckin’. This food is fine.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Let’s get this movie started. There’s nothing like a little Austen to soothe the wounded soul,” Theresa said.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Lucy rubbed her back, a feeling of panic tightening her chest. She was the last person to give love advice. She hadn’t done anything but pine for Jem since he’d gone, and done nothing but pine for him since he’d returned. She hadn’t taken her love for him and put it anywhere at all.
Alda looked up, eyes red. “I need to take that love and spread it around. What a waste to just keep it tucked inside.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Lucy paused, hands full of green beans, her memory flashing back to the giant pots of crawfish on the stove. Her Mama’s green eyes would squint into the steam, hair pulled back, a frown of concentration on her face. The salted water was flavored and ready to receive the “mudbugs” out of their burlap sacks. Other than an onion or maybe an ear of corn, if it wasn’t alive when you threw it in, then it shouldn’t be in the pot, she’d say. Did her Mama mind that Lucy didn’t cook those old family recipes? Was she turning her back on her culinary heritage as surely as Paulette was?
She snapped the ends of the beans faster, glancing at the clock. This whole dinner was breaking her Mama’s cardinal rule: don’t hurry. She thought if a cook was in a hurry, you might as well just make a sandwich and go on your way.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“No, I went to the bar to ask for a mojito and that guy Johnny said he didn’t make mojitos. Then he offered to make me a mint julep, in one of those silver cups and everything.”
“Did you know say the true cause of the Civil War was some Northerner adding nutmeg to a mint julep?” Lucy asked.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Her beauty was classic, timeless. Just the line of her neck, the curve of her cheek, the way the dress draped her hips, was enough to stop the room. When she’d turned away to look at something on the table and he’d seen the back of the dress, he thought he might have to sit down. The smooth skin of her back looked impossibly soft and he ached to reach out, just for a moment, and splay his hand against it.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“Thank you. There were three of us kids, all right together. I’m the oldest, she was the knee-baby, and my brother Henry came last. Funny, I miss her all the time, but I miss her most when I’m reading Austen. We’d been fans since we were in the seventh and eighth grade, two Creole girls gigglin’ about marriage proposals gone bad. Our daddy teased us about reading each other passages during a Fourth of July crawfish boil, so he named the biggest one Mr. Darcy and threw him in the pot.” She looked up, a smile fighting the tears in her eyes. “We refused to eat him.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“My cousin Rebecca teaches comparative English literature at Midlands College. She’s always seeing Austen in the world around her.”
“Exactly.” Theresa beamed. “Life is easier to understand when you think of it in terms of Pride and Prejudice. And all the others.”
“I didn’t realize there were that many others.” She thought for a moment. “Wait, I think I saw a bit of Emma on the BBC one year.”
“Wasn’t it amazing?” Theresa gripped her hand, blue eyes bright with excitement. “What was your favorite part? The dance? Or the proposal?”
She searched her memory for any bit of the plot line but came up empty. “I… I liked the hats,” she said.
Theresa stared for a moment, then burst into laughter. Lucy felt her face warming as curious guests turned to watch.
“You liked the hats. Oh, girl.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread

“I’m not Janessa. I want to celebrate my wedding, with friends and family, while having a really good time. If someone spills punch on my dress, I’m not going to cry about it.”
Lucy raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, I may cry just a bit but it’s only because it’s an Austen-era reproduction and anybody would feel the pain of destroying something so lovely.”
― Mary Jane Hathaway, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread