The Good Sister Quotes

“The library belongs to everyone. The library, Janet used to say, is one of only a few places in the world that one doesn't need to believe anything or buy anything to come inside.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“Angry is just a pen name for sad,” Janet had explained. “In my experience, nine times out of ten if you are kind to the angry person, you will calm them down and find out what is really going on with them.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“I’d always found there was something agreeable about people who liked dogs and something untrustworthy about those who didn’t.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“Maybe when it comes to sisters, boundaries are always a little bit blurry. Blurred boundaries, I think, are what sisters do best.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“Sisterly relationships are so strange in this way. The way I can be mad at Rose but still want to please her. Be terrified of her and also want to run to her. Hate her and love her, both at the same time. Maybe when it comes to sisters, boundaries are always a little bit blurry. Blurred boundaries, I think, are what sisters do best.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“If it were up to me, every child would have a year in the library before they went to school.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“That people without sisters think it’s all sunshine and lollipops or all blood and guts. But actually it’s always both. Sunshine and guts. Lollipops and blood.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“Angry is just a pen name for sad,”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“I’m beginning to think Wally was right when he said I was normal and everyone else were the weirdos.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“The library, Janet used to say, is one of only a few places in the world that one doesn’t need to believe anything or buy anything to come inside”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“That people without sisters think it’s all sunshine and lollipops or all blood and guts. But actually it’s always both. Sunshine and guts. Lollipops and blood. Good and bad. The bad is as essential to the relationship as the good.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“Mum was right when she said that taking a child to the library is the very best education you could give a child.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“One thing I’ve learned about facing fear,” he says, “is that sometimes, it’s just too scary.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“What else would I do? Sit around counting my gold? Besides, working is important to a person’s mental health.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“She’s a miracle,” Wally says. I think about that. “Well, no, not really. Pregnancies are actually biologically quite straightforward.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“It didn’t take long before Mum’s voice permanently took up residence in my mind. It was clear that something was very wrong with me. I was stupid, lazy, selfish. I didn’t pay enough attention to things; I didn’t look after my sister properly. I was bad. Sometimes I was bad even when I hadn’t done anything.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“There are those who insist they are far too busy to read and who instead spend their time watching Netflix and scrolling social media on their iPhones or Androids.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“The library, Janet used to say, is one of only a few places in the world that one doesn’t need to believe anything or buy anything to come inside … and it is the librarian’s job to look after all those who do. I”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“So tell me about van living,” I say, swallowing a mouthful of sandwich. I’d preprepared the question. Asking questions is a tactic I use when small talk is required—it makes you appear interested while simultaneously putting all the effort of the conversation on the other party. “What do you like about it?” Wally is lying on the blanket, resting on one elbow. “Many things,” he says. “I find the small space cozy, like sleeping in a little cocoon. When it rains, I hear it pelting the roof; when it’s windy, I feel the wind up against the car. It’s like I’m out in it … but protected. What else? I like that I can’t have too many possessions, so when I do buy something, I have to consider whether I really need it. It means I only end up with things that are incredibly useful or very precious. I like that I’m not imprisoned by anything. Debt. Weather. Bad neighbors. My home is wherever I am.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“The sound of a phone ringing is among the most crazy-making noises in the world for me. The tinny, repetitive sound of it. The accompanying vibration. Thankfully, my phone rarely rings.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“I look up. Carmel is wearing those eyeglasses that become sunglasses when you go outside. Except she’s inside and the glasses don’t seem to have realized.”
― Sally Hepworth , The Good Sister

“The library, Janet used to say, is one of only a few places in the world that one doesn’t need to believe anything or buy anything to come inside … and it is the librarian’s job to look after all those who do.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“Oh, I prefer not to touch people if I can possibly help it. Did you know that we carry an average of thirty-two hundred bacteria from a hundred and fifty species on our hands at any one time? This includes fecal bacteria! If I shook hands with everyone I met at the library, I’d be constantly ill, not to mention contaminated with god knows what.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“hand”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“Can I say something?” he says. “I know you love your sister, but…” He shakes his head, sighs. “Something isn’t right about her. It’s like she doesn’t know where she ends and you begin. It’s like she thinks … you belong to her or something.” I frown. “And you don’t have great boundaries with her either. You blindly believe things that she tells you. You don’t question anything she says.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“I don’t want anyone to feel like I don’t care about them. So I grieve silently, invisibly.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“The library, Janet used to say, is one of only a few places in the world that one doesn’t need to believe anything or buy anything to come inside …”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“One of the reasons I got the van was because I needed to make my life small.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“Asking questions is a tactic I use when small talk is required—it makes you appear interested while simultaneously putting all the effort of the conversation on the other party.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister

“The library is for everyone, she used to say, but some people need it more than others.”
― Sally Hepworth, The Good Sister