French Braid Quotes

“Oh, a French braid,” Greta said. “That’s it. And then when she undid them, her hair would still be in ripples, little leftover squiggles, for hours and hours afterward.” “Yes…” “Well,” David said, “that’s how families work, too. You think you’re free of them, but you’re never really free; the ripples are crimped in forever.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“This is what families do for each other—hide a few uncomfortable truths, allow a few self-deceptions. Little kindnesses.” “And little cruelties,” he said.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Sometimes people live first one life and then another life,” her grandmother said. “First a family life and then later a whole other kind of life. That’s what I’m doing.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Wasn’t it amazing how resilient people were, how they persisted, how they kept trying to connect!”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Because if you’re going to do someone a favor, her father used to tell her, you might as well do it graciously.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Oh, the lengths this family would go to so as not to spoil the picture of how things were supposed to be!”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“You would think this realization would come as a relief to him. And it did, in part. He felt a rush of love for his whole family, whom it seemed he had underestimated. He had thought that guarding his secret was a kindness to them; he was protecting them from knowledge that would hurt them. But now he saw that not telling them had been more hurtful, and it was they who had been kind.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Two losses, in fact. Two very dear children: Emily and Nicholas. It was true that these days there happened to be two very dear grown-ups who were also named Emily and Nicholas, but they weren’t the same people. It was just as if those children had died. He’d been in mourning ever since.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“So many unexpected people seemed to edge into a person’s life, once that person had children.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“So maybe parenthood was meant to be educational, Robin thought—a lesson for the parents on totally other styles of being.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“French Braid reveals the gentle realities of family ties that constrict and those that fall apart altogether, while the daily hum of diligence and possibility reverberates in the background.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Her grandmother laughed. “Oh, hon,” she said, “it’s never wise to look over your shoulder.” “Huh?” “Just run the race on your own, I say. Don’t fret about the others.” This didn’t make sense, for a moment, but then it did. Candle felt as if she’d had some burden lifted from her, and she gave Mercy a grateful smile and Mercy smiled back.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Consider the gene pool,” she told him. “This country was settled by dissidents and malcontents and misfits and adventurers. Thorny people. They don’t always follow the etiquette.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“This country was settled by dissidents and malcontents and misfits and adventurers. Thorny people. They don’t always follow the etiquette.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“There were advantages to being a girl and having nothing much expected of you.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Morris. Mercy filed the name in her memory. So many unexpected people seemed to edge into a person’s life, once that person had children.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Oh, hon,” she said, “it’s never wise to look over your shoulder.” “Huh?” “Just run the race on your own, I say. Don’t fret about the others.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“level where”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Children know these things,” he said. “It’s a matter of survival. They have to be able to gauge their parents’ minutest reactions, decode the least change in their voices.” “So,” Greta told him, “then surely you know that your father thought very highly of you.” “Yes, fine. I know that,” he said, giving up. “And you thought highly of him,” she said, and she took hold of his hand and drew closer to him. “You were a good son to him.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“He said, “My father didn’t like me, for instance.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Oh, a French braid,” Greta said. “That’s it. And then when she undid them, her hair would still be in ripples, little leftover squiggles, for hours and hours afterward.” “Yes…” “Well,” David said, “that’s how families work, too. You think you’re free of them, but you’re never really free; the ripples are crimped in forever.” Greta started laughing.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“What nobody understood about David, with the possible exception of Greta, was that he had suffered a very serious loss in his life. Two losses, in fact. Two very dear children: Emily and Nicholas. It was true that these days there happened to be two very dear grown-ups who were also named Emily and Nicholas, but they weren’t the same people. It was just as if those children had died. He’d been in mourning ever since. And now he felt a surge of hope, a sort of inner effervescence, and even before Greta got off the line he began to make plans for their time with Benny. —”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“We’ve lost the last remaining chick in our nest! It’s natural we would feel low.” And she did feel low; no question about it. In many ways David was the child closest to her heart, although she’d expected to feel closer to her girls. After Alice and Lily left home it was just David and his parents, and the chaos died down and sometimes Mercy was able to hold actual brief conversations with him.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“passerby would never guess the Garretts even knew each other. They looked so scattered, and so lonesome.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“You can be in a good marriage and you can be in a bad marriage, and they can both be the same one but just at different times.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“You want to be independent?” he asked. He pronounced the word at a distance, somehow, as if he found it distasteful.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Oh, my. I guess it’s true what they say about how you have to skip a generation to appreciate some of your relatives.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Sometimes people live first one life and then another life,”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“Often as she was painting she found herself drifting back through her past like someone wandering through an old house. She thought of her father, who used to take her for neighborhood walks on Sundays when she was a child so that her mother, already an invalid, could get her rest. “Notice the rust stains below those eaves,” he would say. “Below Mrs. Webb’s eaves. I don’t know how often I’ve told her she needs to have her gutters cleaned.” And once, when it began to rain, “Have you ever wondered where rain comes from?” “No, not really,” she had said bluntly, but he had told her anyhow—all about evaporation, condensation…Now she saw that he had adored her, and she felt a deep wave of regret for her failure to realize that before.”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid

“So, this is how it works,” she said. “This is what families do for each other—hide a few uncomfortable truths, allow a few self-deceptions. Little kindnesses.” “And little cruelties,” he said. “And little cruelties,” she agreed, and she swung his hand between them. He”
― Anne Tyler, French Braid