The Paper Bracelet Quotes

“We can’t allow silly young girls to harm innocent children. As for earning a living: what respectable employer would give work to the mother of an illegitimate child? And what about the good Catholic couples who can’t have children of their own? Have you thought about them? Should they be made to suffer?”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“It wasn’t as though the protest had been in pursuit of any particular aim or agenda; more that, for a short time, it had made them feel like they had some control over their lives. They’d sung because it had felt good.”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“They were a ragtag bunch, their stomachs swelling against their ugly uniforms, their hair tied up in topknots, their faces pink from heat and exertion. They’d been assaulted, abandoned, discarded, left in the lurch. They’d been branded, insulted and punished. They were sluts, tramps, whores, fallen women. Their babies would be taken from them without consideration or permission. And still they sang.”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“You have fallen and you can rise again. The day will come when you walk out of here and begin afresh. But I warn you, Patricia, if you behave as though you belong in the gutter, the gutter is where you’ll end up.”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“Men can’t help themselves, so the burden falls on women to keep society safe and close to God.”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“responsibility.”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“It seemed to her that nowadays, young women were allowed to make a splash. Older ones were still expected to colour inside the lines.”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“Even today, when honesty was supposed to be prized, how many women devoted a large part of their lives to constructing an idealised version of themselves?”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“Religion had treated her like a criminal when in reality she’d been a victim.”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet

“still”
― Rachael English, The Paper Bracelet