The Proposition Quotes

“Yey more and more there seemed a bevy of things she was not supposed to think about and by virtue of trying not to, she hardly thought of anything else.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“I mean it,' he said. 'I love your nose.'
Love. He'd said it. Though only for her nose ...
Her eyes grew larger, wider behind her eyeglasses. She looked afraid, yet full of hope. She was dying to believe him about something she couldn't see in herself.
'I don't like my nose,' she said.
'You're so hard on yourself. I think your nose is the best nose I've ever met.'
She gave a little snort. 'You see? The best nose. Honestly. You aren't supposed to notice a woman's nose.'
'Why not?'
'It's supposed to blend in, be part of the overall beauty of her well-proportioned face.'
'Yours is part of your overall beauty.'
She made a face at him, complete with tongue stuck out.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“The ferret didn't matter. Because there was something about Mick that wasn't a fake anything. And Winnie herself felt more real somehow, running around, looking for the little animal that meant so much to him.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“The sensation wasn't repellent, though she had believed somewhere it would be. Someone had left her with that impression, but, whoever they were, they were wrong. It was ... mesmerizing. She could sense the length of him against her buttocks as well as a kind of heaviness, a substantive presence. He was changing right there under her, growing longer and thicker, information she acquired through the unlikely source of her bum, while he kissed her mouth.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“When she wasn’t being stiff-necked, she was the friend he most wanted to talk to, who he couldn’t wait to see each day. She came into his mind with the first ray of consciousness at daybreak. He nodded off, smiling over her with his last, heavy-eyed blink before sleep. Sweet Win. Funny Win. Clever Win. Frightened, brave, careful, meticulous Winnie, trying to avoid the bite of the world by pretending it didn’t have teeth.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“She shook her head, glued now to the sight. He felt exhilarated, seeing her there, her expression amused, absorbed. Oh, he wanted to charm her. He wanted to woo her, make her stay. He just wasn’t sure how to do it.

…Mick knew Win wasn’t listening as he told her about the dog; he was barely listening to himself. He wanted to say, Don’t go. Just stay. Stay and keep looking at me like that. He rattled on instead.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“She thought about his naked chest again. Her memory of it both fascinated and repelled her. Hair. It had been there again as they had argued in the bathroom. She shuddered. Who would have thought? Yet she had studied it with surreptitious care: a pattern of dark hair, two perfect swirls that converged to become a dense pattern in the crevice between chest muscles, then (when he pulled hi arms away to push back his hair) ran in a dark, ever-narrowing line, like an arrow pointing downward. Mick Tremore in the rude, as it were. This way to the widge. (hardcover, large print, page 78)”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“He held the bundle of skirts against her belly, leaning into them, letting her feel his existence on the other side of all the silky stuff of her clothes. He was scaring her, he knew. Winnie didn't like not to be in charge. Well, stuff her, he thought.

Except that was the point, of course. He couldn't. And the idea of "stuffing her" was pretty much running wild through his head. Ho-o-o-o, he wanted to lay her so bad his eyes were hot at the backs from being so close to the burning thoughts in his head. (hard back, large print, page 161)”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Everyone grew still, exactly as she'd asked. The little thing skittered around feet, visible one moment, lost the next. A man near Mick - the very man who was part of the couple who'd been at Abernathy and Freigh's when the ferret had gotten loose six weeks ago - said, 'Oh, I hope you can get her. My pet monkey ran out of the house last month, and we never found him. I've been distraught ever since.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“This way to the widge.
Edwin started. Heavens! Up till now, she realized, she had carefully avoided forming in her mind any word for that part of a man. Even the scientific word made her vaguely uneasy; her sensibilities veered away from it. Still, she'd known immediately what Mr. Tremore referred to when he'd said *that*. His word seemed friendlier. A fond name. Were men fond of that part of themselves? It was certainly not the best part of statues; she made a point not to look there. And it changed, it grew. She'd read that astounding piece of information in a book. That was the worst part, the horror - or it had been the worst until this very moment, when it occurred to her that, goodness, a man might have hair there too. She did. Oh, something that grew larger, up and out of a tangle of hair. How disgusting.
No, no, she mustn't think of it anymore. Enough. She must think of something else.
The mustache.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Mick was out on the river promenade, waiting for her the day she came home from London, having gone to discuss and deliver a copy of her paper on Cockney speech to a playwright who was researching the concept for a play based on the myth of Pygmalion.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Win, don’t struggle with it. I can’t have everything. But that’s not bad: A poor man learns what he values better than a rich man.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“She could use a hundred years of admiration; she’d had too little in her life.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“They touched each other with relative gentleness, yet they each reacted as if from violence: bombarded with pleasure.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Mick,” she said, “don’t worry about the future so much that you make our present less than what it should be.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Let’s go rid you of your infernal virginity. I hate it. I want it gone.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“He should be warning himself, he thought. God bless, the large, bold physicality of tall Winnie.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“He told himself, Time to think with something other than what was coming to attention in his trousers. Get yourself on the straight and narrow here, Mick. Winnie wouldn’t like all this.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“She wanted to crow. Goodness, she was having a good time as her mother used to. And so far it hadn’t killed her. How grand! Oh, how grand it was simply to do what she felt like doing! How grand to be alive tonight!”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“And all the while, Mick held her hand, leading her along. His part of town. His warm, embracing hand around hers. He could have led her to hell, and it would have been fine; pleasant, in fact.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“He laughed again, so amused by her. Oh, her sweet face…her dear face with all its infinite movements and twists.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“You have a witty face, a lively mug of a face, Win. As if God made everyone else’s then came back to you and gave you a few extra touches, to make you stand out; you’re more interesting to look at than most women, Win.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“It only looks like aces from here, Win. You don’t know. You can’t see—you can’t play his hand, only yours.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Oh, they were getting along like cats and dogs. Him chasing, wanting to grab her by the neck, her spitting and hissing every chance she got. If they didn’t sleep together soon, they were going to kill each other. Except he couldn’t explain that to her. She wouldn’t hear it, even if she understood somewhere inside the truth of it.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“How dare he, she thought, irrationally. How dare he turn her like this: on her ear with his astounding adaptions, so vastly outstripping anything anyone expected of him, so far exceeding merely looking the part. How could she expect to stay stable through such a waltzing, vertiginous reality wherein what she heard and saw breathing before her contradicted what she knew to be true.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Well, good. She baffled herself. She might as well baffle him, too.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“When she wasn’t being stiff-necked, she was the friend he most wanted to talk to, who he couldn’t wait to see each day. She came into his mind with the first ray of consciousness at daybreak. He nodded off, smiling over her with his last, heavy-eyed blink before sleep. Sweet Win. Funny Win. Clever Win. Frightened, brave, careful, meticulous Winnie, trying to avoid the bite of the world by pretending it didn’t have teeth.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“He looked at Winnie. She waited for the whole phrase. Stupid woman. She was happier fixing him than admiring him. It was her way of connecting, her way of shagging him blind. “Rahther fine, Miss Bollash.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Fine. If you ever do, just remember I like a little participation. A little share in the responsibility, Miss Bollash. If you want me to kiss you, it’d be right damn nice if you’d say so. Otherwise”—he reverted intentionally—“you ain’t havin’ a kiss from me.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition

“Why had he brought her out here? He could have predicted her reaction. He knew the answer, of course. Her face was the answer. Because he was so damn good at this that it was obvious even in the way he laid out his attack—and he was so damn awkward at everything else she was teaching him. He wanted to be…skillful, elegant at something in front of her. Ha. Elegant at being a ratcatcher. Now, there was a way to impress the ladies.”
― Judith Ivory, The Proposition