Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion Quotes

“I had a sudden irrational desire to hug her, but there was so much distance between us. My birth had been only the beginning of our separation, the first time I was cut loose. From that moment until now, I'd just been going farther and farther away, my body a lifeboat pushing into the ocean.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“Americans don't understand the first thing about love, Taslima's mother added. If they understood love, would they do all the terrible things they do in the world, bringing war everywhere?”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“It all began to disappear, what my parents wanted from me, who they wanted me to be, the future they had so carefully planned.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“For them, us first-gen Pakistani girls were a forest of green cards. We were groomed like Christmas trees, thinking we were in the beautiful woods, thinking we were growing, but we were just being readied to be cut down. They were coming for us.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“Nothing was sacred, everything was sacred, everything changed, everything stayed the same.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“I didn't blame my mother for needing an escape. I felt guilty for my existence and the burden we were on her.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“I saw my mother shrink in her eyes. I wanted to tell the cashier there were no roaches in Pakistan, but something stopped me.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“No one had ever told me I was beautiful before. I leaned into Angela, and she leaned into me. We became two wood nymphs intertwined at Sappho’s feet, freezing into place like marble figurines.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“realized we were all like the ducks. We would do anything, even go against our natural instincts, so we could be taken care of.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“Would we be able to transform the darkness of our anger into gold, our mistakes into light?”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“When it's called slavery, it's assumed white people are doing the enslaving.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“It made me wonder who all the aunties had been before.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“The rumors, not the truth, were enough to destroy a girl's reputation.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“For our families in Pakistan, our parents were the real Santa Claus.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“It was always this way with our fathers. They made stories of cruelty seem so funny.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“My mother turned her face up toward the highest branches and got a shiny look in her eyes.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“Safia cried day and night as if she too had a hard time connecting this world with the one she'd left behind.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“You'll wear the taweez and drink Zam Zam, but you'll also read.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“My mother knew Allah accepted late namaazes the way teachers accepted late homework: begrudgingly, but glad we'd put in the effort.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“Money was why my father had to work day and night and was never home. Money was why girls like Shahnaaz got heart-shaped lockets and thought they were better than me. Money was why Saima and I couldn't speak.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“We were leaving the empty shells of our childhoods behind and becoming prey.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“You make yourself go to sleep. You just tell yourself it's a dream.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

“She stepped inside, and I followed her and my mother up the stairs. My mother had carried me up those stairs as a child. She'd taught me how to walk on them when I'd been a child. I'd swept those stairs as soon as I could hold a broom. Now I climbed them feeling as if my life was ending.

In the living room, Safia was watching cartoons and rocking back and forth on the sofa with her thumb in her mouth. Safia still hadn't spoken a word. For this, my mother saw her as a dream. She showered affection on Safia in a way she'd never done with me. My mother told me I'd been difficult. I'd cried and cried as a baby and never been happy. I'd never been her favorite, even when it was just me.”
― Bushra Rehman, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion