Quotes from Lisa Jewell

I'm not going to tell you that in ten years you'll look back and wonder what the hell you were thinking, because I remember being twenty-one and thinking that my personality was a solid thing, that me was set in stone, that I would always feel what I felt and believe what I believed. But not I know that me is fluid and shape-changing.

A hug is not always the right answer, you know. But as she felt his arms around her, his warm breath against the crown of her head, she thought that it might not be an answer, but it was certainly better than yet another question.

The journey back through the house, like all return journeys, felt shorter and less convoluted; the sense of knowing how long the tunnels were and where they ended up was reassuring

But, what if it's not a mistake? What if it's true?" "Well then, my angel... you'll be a very rich woman indeed.

Yes," she said. "Yes. A hundred percent. My mum is so cool. And all she wants in the whole world is for me to be happy. So if you make me happy, she'll like you.

Invisibility was my favorite state of existence.

He was being called on to be a man, called up for service almost, except his country didnt need him, his lover did, and he felt proud and strong and ready to do whatever was necessary.

His minute steak was tough and chewy, the chips were too greasy, and the ketchup wasn't Heinz.

Terrible, dreadful, blasted awful kids. They've all got a darkness inside them. They've all got the capacity of evil.

You didn't lose me, Laurel. I'm still yours. I'll always be yours.' 'Well that's not strictly true, is it?' He sighs again. 'Where it counts. As the father of your children, as a friend, as someone who has shared a journey with you, and as someone who loves you and cares about you. I don't need to be married to you to be all those things. Those things are deeper than marriage. Those things are forever.

doorway for a second and looks at her mother, absorbs the shape of her and the exquisite feeling of her existence in the world.

Poppy is wearing a loose-fitting dress made of blue and white striped cotton, with navy woolen tights and a pair of navy leather pumps. Her brown hair is tied back and has two small red clips in it. It's a very formal outfit for a young girl, Laurel feels. The sort of thing she'd have had to bribe both her girls to wear when they were that age

The things that happened behind the closed door of that house were appalling, and like a coward, I did a flit. I left them to it.

and she knows that she is somehow being diminished, that the care she is being shown by Scarlett is warped and wrong, that Scarlett has been taught how to love by people who don't know how to love and that everything she thinks is good is actually bad

There was no beginning, middle and end to destiny, it wasn't neat and manageable. It was random and scary and if it wanted to it would.

all happened so slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly, the change to our parents, to our home, to our lives after they arrived.

Sophie's gut reaction had been no. No no no no no. She was a Londoner. She was independent. She had a career of her own. A social life. Her family lived in London.

And I remember my mother holding herself back from David, refusing to shine for fear of his desiring her.

bin that everyone seemed intent on not emptying, contents pressed down into its bowels by the lazy, flat-palmed hands of her family.

She remembered the intensity of her desire to undress him, to be naked with him, the way she felt like she could say whatever she wanted and be fully understood and do whatever she wanted and be totally accepted. She remembered how easy it had all been, how open and bright, like being in a whitewashed room with all the windows wide open.

All my father's opinions were either black or white; things were either right or wrong, good or bad: there was no nuance to his worldview. It was embarrassing.)

But she knows this isn't true. They're more than just people. They're a mood, a feeling, a vibe, an aspiration. They're like a music video or a trailer for a really cool movie. They're a billboard poster for a hip clothing brand.

I'm not going to tell you in ten years you'll look back and wonder what the hell you were thinking, because I remember being 21 and thinking my personality was a solid thing, that 'me' was set in stone, that I would always feel what I felt and believe what I believed. But now I know 'me' is fluid and shape-changing. So whatever you're feeling now, it's temporary.

When she left, she took with her any sense I had of myself as a worthwhile person. Without her I was just this blank space. When she died my whole world turned black.