Singing the Sadness Quotes

“Beryl standing a little way back from the tiny circle of canvas, looking up and smiling encouragement. Now that was a real smile, a smile for a man to come home to and wake to and respond to all his life. He yelled back, ‘Will you marry me if I jump?’ She called, ‘Depends on your aim. Now stop messing around, Joe Sixsmith. Jump!”
― Reginald Hill, Singing the Sadness

“Joe did not spend a lot of time bemoaning the fact that God, who could easily have created him six foot six, rippling with muscles and coruscating with charisma, had opted instead for five foot five, a sagging waist, and social invisibility except maybe in a convention of white supremacists.”
― Reginald Hill, Singing the Sadness

“The first course was a portion of smoked mackerel hardly large enough for a single bite, which was what the Reverend gave it, ramming it down his throat with a bread roll, like a musketeer loading his gun.”
― Reginald Hill, Singing the Sadness

“His aunt had antennae like antlers and a sunflower’s objection to being kept in the dark.”
― Reginald Hill, Singing the Sadness

“My gran always said, complaining loses old friends and doesn’t make new,’ she replied.”
― Reginald Hill, Singing the Sadness

“That’s right, I’m the driver. I just follow directions. You know so much, why don’t you tell me where to go, Reverend?’ ‘If I wasn’t a man of the cloth, I might just do that, brother,’ thundered Rev. Pot.”
― Reginald Hill, Singing the Sadness

“The van bore the single word BREAKDOWN like a command, and its engine coughed asthmatically as if eager to obey.”
― Reginald Hill, Singing the Sadness