The Pact Quotes

“She was faulty, broken, defective. Yes, she'd been here before. The dull, numbing stillness that followed another shock, another disappointment, another sadness. She could feel herself settling into autopilot, letting her mind take over the logistics while her heart scrambled to repair itself. Except this time, she didn't think she would come back from it.”
― Dawn Goodwin, The Pact

“Maddie understood that level of desperation all too well. That feeling of clinging onto something with the very edges of your fingernails and the fear as you feel your grip failing.”
― Dawn Goodwin, The Pact

“But she couldn't be angry at Greg, mostly because she didn't feel much other than sadness when she thought about her marriage. The whole experience of it was cloaked in a thin, grimy layer of disappointment like a lingering bitter aftertaste from a pill. There had been so much promise that it had left a gaping hole when it all collapsed in on itself. All of it had engulfed Maddie for so long that she felt hollow. It took a moment to fall apart, but a lifetime to pick yourself up from it.”
― Dawn Goodwin, The Pact

“Lately she was starting to realise that she had spent too much time worrying about what others thought of her and had lost sight of who she was, what she even liked. She had a vague recollection of herself before she met Greg, but then she'd put on a fancy dress costume of the perfect wife, with the sensible clothes and controlled mannerisms, and eventually found she couldn't take it off again, like the zip had got stuck and there was no one there to help her out of it.”
― Dawn Goodwin, The Pact

“The polite ignorance of the middle classes.”
― Dawn Goodwin, The Pact

“Gemma's tastes may be material, but they were easy needs to meet. Maddie wanted something he couldn't provide - and for a man who liked to fix problems, that became untenable. If only he could combine the best of both women into one, he would be a happy man.”
― Dawn Goodwin, The Pact

“Jade had a brittle sense of humour that had had Maddie in fits of giggles all night. Her tongue was so sharp it could clip a hedge and she was quick to share her strong opinions on most things, like she had a childish need to show off for her new friend.”
― Dawn Goodwin, The Pact