The Lost Village Quotes

“It would have been nice to explore the alleyways by myself in this silence, to capture the village as I see it now, this first morning. Dormant and untouched. It's like a living photograph, a relic of a bygone age.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“It’s easier to sympathize with dead people, tragic victims long gone. They aren’t nearly as demanding. As compassion goes, it’s cheap.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“Recovered, in recovery, or struggling, we are still people. Sometimes that truth can feel like a fever dream.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“We perceive women suffering from mental illness with a sort of paradoxical double-sidedness; both victims and monsters, simultaneously infantilized and feared. A certain level of dysfunction is accepted—after all, women who are suffering mild depression and starving themselves aren’t going to leave their husbands or start revolutions, which is very practical indeed.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“That’s the lovely thing about books, isn’t it? You can take whatever you want from it.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“Throughout history, women suffering from mental illness have been hidden away, burned at the stake, lobotomized, and sterilized.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“We view a depressed upper-class woman from a stable family background dealing with depression as “having the blues,” while the homeless woman on the street corner battling auditory hallucinations is a thing to be feared, a threatening monster. Not a person in need of help. Not someone with thoughts, dreams, fears, and needs of their own. Not a fully formed human being with agency and identity, suffering from an illness and doing their best to function as well as they can.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“There are three female characters in the book suffering from mental illness, and they are all perceived and treated differently. One of them has recovered, one is in recovery, and was never given the chance. They are neither victims or villians. They are just people, with different needs and levels of functioning.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“She's right. They all are. I can feel it in my bones, that fear, like a sour taste on my tongue. I want nothing more than to stay here, to give in to their reason. I've seen the movies, too—I know what happens to the person who leaves safety to head out into the dark forest, the haunted psychiatric ward, the abandoned school. But what those movies don't show is the guilt surging like a current through my skin; how it feels to know someone you care about is already there, alone and vulnerable and terrified. What the moviegoers don't see is that the shame of staying can weigh heavier than the fear of going.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“They are neither victims nor villains. They are just people, with differing needs and levels of functioning.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“We perceive women suffering from mental illness with a sort of paradoxical double-sidedness; both victims and monsters, simultaneously infantilized and feared.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“Volevo solo raccontare la vostra storia. Volevo solo sapere com'era successo. È stato un errore così grande?”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“La gente fa quello che dice, siccome lei si aspetta che lo facciano.
Le ho sempre invidiato questa sicurezza.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“..la vergogna di non fare niente può essere più pesante della paura di andare.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“Diceva che non si può aiutare chi non vuole essere aiutato.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“Sono contenta che tu non sia affogata con me..le dico.
Lei annuisce lentamente.
Sono contenta che tu non sia affogata!..risponde.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“È per questo che è un vero mistero. Quasi novecento persone sparite senza lasciare traccia..nessuno sa se siano morte o vive. Nessuno sa se si siano suicidate, se si sono ammalate o abbiamo lasciato il villaggio volontariamente. Nessuno sa perché la povera Birgitta Lidman sia stata lapidata. E nessuno sa chi fosse la neonata della scuola, o perché sia stata abbandonata.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“depressione" è una parola informe, grigia, che allude a qualcosa di triste e pietoso. A qualcuno che ha perso il controllo.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“Il sole si è appena affacciato all'orizzonte e l'alba tinge il villaggio di rosa. Alla luce del nuovo giorno appare magico, allegro ed etereo.... Dormiente e intatto. È come una fotografia vivente, una reliquia di un tempo passato.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“Un grido mi strappa dal sonno.
Essere svegliati da un grido equivale alla sensazione del rompere un vetro a mani nude: istantanea, netta e dolorosa.....Fuori il silenzio è compatto e la notte tranquilla; per qualche istante l'unico rumore che sento è il mio cuore che batte all'impazzata.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“No. I can’t think like that now, can’t let the sadness set in. Because with that will come the fear. The shame. The anxiety. Black, oozing tar.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“Recovered, in recovery, or struggling, we are still people.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“I’m also very aware that still, today, that is not the case for many people; that I am very privileged, and that my privilege had a huge part in my recovery. Everything from degree of severity, to social status, race, level of financial stability, and ability to seek health care has an impact on not only how mental illness is treated, but how it is perceived. We view a depressed upper-class woman from a stable family background dealing with depression as “having the blues,” while the homeless woman on the street corner battling auditory hallucinations is a thing to be feared, a threatening monster. Not a person in need of help. Not someone with thoughts, dreams, fears, and needs of their own. Not a fully formed human being with agency and identity, suffering from an illness and doing their best to function as well as they can.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“We perceive women suffering from mental illness with a sort of paradoxical double-sidedness; both victims and monsters, simultaneously infantilized and feared. A certain level of dysfunction is accepted—after all, women who are suffering mild depression and starving themselves aren’t going to leave their husbands or start revolutions, which is very practical indeed. But beyond a certain point, it flips. Women are supposed to be gentle, devoted, loving and—above all else—rule-abiding. Undeniable suffering is bad, and anger is worse. A woman suffering from severe anxiety or untreated mania isn’t going to have dinner on the table by 6 o’clock. No longer is she fulfilling that crucial, limited role she’s expected to fulfill. No longer can she be a dutiful daughter, a picture-perfect wife, a devoted mother. Throughout history, women suffering from mental illness have been hidden away, burned at the stake, lobotomized, and sterilized.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village

“This isn't a movie. In a movie we would have hugged and been best friends again, now and forever. That's never going to happen. I think I'll be living with this dull pain for the rest of my life. I'll never get back what we used to have.

But maybe that doesn't have to be such a bad thing.

Maybe we can still live with each other, in some way, shape, or form.

"I'm glad you didn't drown with me," I say.

She nods slowly.

"I'm glad you didn't drown," she replies.”
― Camilla Sten, The Lost Village