Quotes from Catherine Gilbert Murdock

If in this narrative I have not yet paid Queen Sophia adequate consideration, particularly given the unrelenting domination the woman would soon claim over every single element of my life, I offer this simple yet honest explanation: for fifteen unbroken years, my mother had toiled to protect me from the woman. It is remarkable, as I reflect upon my childhood, how utterly unaware I was of this situation while it transpired, the truth coming to my notice only in despondent hindsight.

Lord Frederick had been a stalwart member of the Montagne court since at least the time of my grandfather; this I knew. Even more, he had the marvellous ability to pull peppermint drops from my ears, which used to entertain me for hours.

As for the queen, I had no more interest in her company than in plunging my face into a nest of hornets.

A princess," (Queen Sophia) would proclaim, "requires a graceful and willowy carriage, not the appetite of a swineherd.

I mulled on the tower-bound princess whose lover employed her hair as rope. My own curly locks – one of my better features, I will admit, better being a relative term – hung just past my shoulders, and barely draped over the windowsill.

You watch pro ball and those guys spend so much time with their hands on each other's rear ends, you'd think they were feeling for diamonds or something.

The situation collapsed completely at dinner one September evening. Perhaps it was the full moon that drove me to madness, or the gnawing, relentless emptiness of my heart. Whatever the trigger, the powder had been well packed, and my explosion, though shocking, was not altogether unexpected.

No matter how I prayed, no fairy godmother appeared. No elf or leprechaun or world-weary wizard materialised to provide the secret weapon against my foe. I remained alone in a mouse-infested cell, empty but for a pallet and the nightdress into which I now had to struggle.

I could not help but notice that in this regard the book, inanimate though it was, cared more for my welfare than any human in the castle.

Finally I halted, my cloak soiled with grease and jam. Why was it that jam always coated me so?

Better I would have been at pulling parsnips out of my nose than charming any man, even if I so desired it, even if I quadrupled my studies in her unique curriculum.

I trust you are enjoying your stay in our castle?" I asked at last. "Would that I were, Your Highness. But I am afraid my sleep last night was quite troubled. This morning I identified the source of my bruises" – here he reached into a pocket of his waistcoat – "as a pea that had been tucked beneath my mattress.

With time, when I was very old and in my twenties, I might find a man to love, not one forced upon me…

A croaking frog would be nice, particularly a frog that retained Florian's dark eyes. I should keep it in a box and poke it occasionally with a stick; that would be satisfying indeed.

I swear, every person I know gets far more satisfaction from doing good deeds than receiving them. Maybe that's the whole point in the end, all of us putting up with good deeds, tolerating them as best we can, counting the minutes until we have the opportunity to reciprocate.

trying to make something sound innocent always backfires—I know that just from being a kid

It was like he could take any emotion I had and make it ten times stronger. Which is great when it's happiness but pretty darn awful if it's anything sad.

It is important to eat Oreos the right way.

Today exists between yesterday and tomorrow.

That which is priceless has no cost.

The key to hell picks all locks

His cell phone rang, one of those extremely annoying songs that cell phone owners are so in love with because for some reason they can't tolerate a plain old-fashioned ring.

We lose those we love. Such is the nature of life.

It's the asking that's so painful. It takes real courage, real strength, to say you're not strong enough to do it alone.