An Exaltation of Larks Quotes

“Many people like being alone, but nobody likes to be lonely.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“I want to wake up every morning and listen to your heart. I want to be the last man you slept with. When you say it’s been a long time since you made love, I want that time to be a matter of hours. Because I loved you last night. And I’m going to love you again tonight.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Don’t marry the guy who’s your drinking buddy,” she told Deane. “Marry the guy who holds your head while you’re throwing up, then wipes down the toilet afterward.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Jav’s face was numb. Fingertips ice cold. His shirt stuck to his back with sweat and every square inch o“f skin prickled and tingled. He could feel his heart breaking down, dropping off piece by piece into the rolling boil of his stomach. Every splash sending up clouds of toxic steam, choking his throat. He was sure the next words out would be inside a scream. Instead he heard a strong, calm voice—a seasoned captain taking over the helm.
“I’m with you,” Jav said. “Fucking take their ship down. I’m here. Right until the end, I won’t leave.”

Excerpt From: Suanne Laqueur. “An Exaltation of Larks.” iBooks.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Your daughter went to bed on the eve of her thirteenth birthday as a sweetheart, and woke up the next morning a bitch. You never stopped loving her, but goddamn, you had a lot of days when you didn’t like her. At all.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“I want to kiss you,” he said. His thumb moved out of the hollow of her throat, and then back in. “Badly.”
Her eyes closed and her brows hunched over them a moment. Then her forehead smoothed, as if she had worked out the solution to a problem. “No,” she said. “You want to kiss me well. You just want it badly.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“It’s not the Larks that kill you. It’s the exaltation.” “Christ…”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Among a thousand other things, she loved Alex for his easy use of we. His willing, unconscious way of taking an oar at the galley of your problem, even if it was just to listen. Even if both of you knew he couldn’t do jack shit to help, he made it about us and made you feel less alone. “I”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“And if it gets out later, it has major potential to bite you in the ass. Like, you could lose an entire ass cheek. None of your clothes would fit anymore.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Wanting isn't having. Wanting is doing. Wanting isn't making come in fruition. Everyone wants. I want. It's a human condition.
Problem with wanting... Even when you do the right thing and don't put anything in motion? You can't switch wanting off. This is an emotional flu you have to suffer.
~~ Val”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Because music makes good citizens and beautiful hearts.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“I don’t need his love.
I don’t want it. I don’t want to need it. Not from him. Not from anyone.
I don’t want this strangle in my chest, this heat in my belly, this agony in my bones. I don’t want it.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“His heart full of a fierce love for this tough kid, this vulnerable boy, this magnificent sister-son given into his care.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Never stop learning. You already like to read, which is an advantage. Read everything. Newspapers, magazines, books. Be informed. Be up-to-date. Be both interesting and interested in others. Everyone has something fascinating about them, Jav. Your job is to find it. Then you can fuck it.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Your daughter went to bed on the eve of her thirteenth birthday as a sweetheart, and woke up the next morning a bitch. You never stopped loving her, but goddamn, you had a lot of days when you didn’t like her. At all. Eighth grade to sophomore year, Alex often referred to Deane as “the exchange student.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Life has rules, Val thought. And you cannot come in the middle of the night and take what we agreed isn’t yours.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Love and I were never friends.
~~ Jav”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Val sat up on her elbows and looked over the headboards between them. “Larks,” she said.
Alex glanced at her with one eye. Then with both eyes. His toes curled tight in his wool socks as he answered, “Exaltation.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Day One of being on the shit list.” She dug her fingers into her hair, scratching vigorously. “And I haven’t a thing to wear.” Get”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“If marriage was a prison yard, your spouse was the inmate who had your back. Together you were a devoted Gang of Two, each making sure the other didn’t get shanked or shivved. You”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Then his story started to sink into the surface, saturating him. A swampy mess at first. No plot, no arc, no thread. For a month, he simply threw handfuls of mud and gunk at the screen. He began to find rocks, then bones. And finally, he hit the vein of gold at the intersection of challenge and passion.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“He was a piece of the night, soft like velvet and hard like glass. A curtained window. Skin”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“He kissed like a fucking dream. Like Deane filled out an application, requested, “Send me a boy who kisses like this,” and the universe followed instructions to the letter.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Jesus Christ, this is like a bad soap opera.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“He’d never turned inside-out like this when kissing his clients. Peeled apart, folded back and drifting in a thick sea of desire. Vulnerable, electric and wanting. Wide open to his bones, conscious of himself. A lovee instead of a lover. Thinking of his own pleasure in a way he never did when he was working. So selfish, it was selfless.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“The people who should’ve kept you safe put you in danger. The ones who should’ve known and loved you best threw you away. I don’t understand how, because you’re so good.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“Half of her wanted only to look at him while the other half couldn’t bear what she saw. For a brief moment, when their fingers touched within the dog’s fur, she felt his pain crackle up her arm. Then she wanted to run away while only wanting to stay and guard him.
That hurt like hell.
Let me feel it again.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“He thought it when Val stared at him over pancakes the next morning, the air swirling between them, thicker than butter and sweeter than syrup.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“In the kitchen, Alex was mixing up a round of pisco sours. “South American classic,” he said. “Personally I’d rather drink beer but I like them every now and again.” He handed Jav a glass. “Con mucho abrazos, amor y besos.” “Pero no pesos.” They clinked and drank. “Not bad,” Jav said. “Not too sour.” “Peruvians add bitters,” Alex said. “And a big froth of egg white on top. It’s pretty gross.” He hitched up to sit on the countertop.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks

“The use of historical events and places in this novel are a respectful mix of fact and poetic license.”
― Suanne Laqueur, An Exaltation of Larks