Big Girl, Small Town Quotes

“Sometimes Majella thought that she should condense her whole list of things she wasn’t keen on into a single item: • Other People.”
― Michelle Gallen, Big Girl, Small Town

“On her First Holy Communion, Majella could remember sitting in the chapel for a long time, with Jesus stuck to the roof of her mouth, and her trying to peel him off with her tongue. Somehow she knew picking him off with her finger was all wrong.”
― Michelle Gallen, Big Girl, Small Town

“Looks utterly unnatural when colored—e.g., red, orange, black”
― Michelle Gallen, Big Girl, Small Town

“The full list of things Majella wasn’t keen on extended to ninety-seven items, with subcategories for each item.”
― Michelle Gallen, Big Girl, Small Town

“What if we accept these points of light, their translucence, their brightness; what if we let ourselves enjoy this, stop fearing it, get used to it; what if we come to believe in it, to expect it, to be impressed upon by it; what if we take hope and forgo our ancient heritage and instead, and infused, begin to entrain with it, with ourselves then to radiate it; what if we do that, get educated up to that, and then, just like that, the light goes off or is snatched away? Milkman, Anna Burns”
― Michelle Gallen, Big Girl, Small Town