Quotes from Elin Hilderbrand

She has new hair and new boobs, but her insides are still rotten.

Alison Krauss, Lauryn Hill, Norah Jones. She added vintage Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Carole King. She rounded it out with some edge: Fiona Apple, Courtney Love, Alanis Morissette.

I've been smart my whole life, Angus says. And I guess I was angry that I couldn't find a way to heal myself.

doesn't enjoy food that is aggressively healthy

by which I mean Tay-K, not Taylor Swift

One trait all the women in his life have shared: They were "born on the Fourth of July." Independent.

when you get to the end of your rope?" "Make a knot and hang on," Ayers says.

Marguerite changed the CD to, of all people, Derek and the Dominos, because "Bell Bottom Blues" had been Candace's favorite song. It was her anthem.

no amount of money or logistics is worth a lifetime of settling.

Secrets are lies! They're lies!

Three geese stuffed with apples and onions, served with a Roquefort sauce, stuffing with chestnuts, potato gratin, curried carrots, brussel sprouts with bacon and chives-

had him pegged as one kind of person—he had just ended his second term on the Iowa City school board; he was encouraging his mother, Milly, to move into a retirement community but she was having none of it—he would pull out a surprise. Like the way he stroked behind my knee in a spot so sweet and sensitive, I had a hard time concentrating. We anchored off of Little Cinnamon because the cliff above was undeveloped so no one would be spying on us with binoculars

own life—he just wished it coincided more neatly with his life as

Cash avoids group tours for a reason: they turn even the most authentic experiences into a Disneyland ride. It's unavoidable, he

Do all brilliant ideas seem brilliant from the very beginning, or do they seem far-fetched until they come into clearer focus?

my parents were supposed

Marguerite had compiled a list of places she wanted to visit- this fromagerie in the sixth, this chocolatier, this home-goods store for hand-loomed linens, this wine shop, this purveyor of fennel-studded salami, which they ate on slender ficelles , this butcher for roasted bleu de Bresse .

To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, to be late is to be forgotten.

For women, my best travel tip is to invest in two to three cashmere ponchos. I buy the brand Minnie Rose. They're good cover in three seasons, and they make wonderful travel blankets.

I have this ridiculous exercise regime in the summer that I do not deviate from.

Like most writers, I read constantly. I used to hide in remote parts of the yard and house so I could read in peace.

I have no skills! I can't speak French, I can't ski, I can't play the guitar... I can barely log on to the Internet! All I know how to do is write novels (thank goodness) and run, and anyone who has seen me run knows I'm not very good at that, either.

I was a huge fan of J. Courtney Sullivan's novel 'Maine,' and like that novel, 'Saint' is a family saga set in Boston. Irish Catholic family secrets - is there anything better?

It has always been a goal of mine to climb Kilimanjaro, so that's definitely happening, and I may write a memoir about it. When I was 25, I tried to trek to Everest Base Camp, but I got sick and ended up being carried out of Dingboche on the back of my Sherpa. So Kilimanjaro would represent a redemption of sorts.