Quotes About Relationships

And it occurs to her for the very first time that maybe Hanna isn't intrinsically unhappy. That maybe she just doesn't like her.

Hanna. Her middle child. The difficult one. The tiring one. The one she wouldn't want to be stranded on a desert island with. And a terrible thought shot through her, so fast she barely registered it. 'It should be you missing and Ellie eating beans on toast.

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

No child wants to feel that they weren't wanted, even if they don't care much for the abandoner.

There is nothing worse than a man who can't spell — it takes all the romance out of cards and love letters and things.

Same reason she didn't tell you how hard she found it, being the spare part in your great dynasty. She obviously didn't feel like she could talk to you.

When the children were small, Laurel's mother would occasionally make small, raw observations about gaps between phone calls and visits that would tear tiny, painful strips off Laurel's conscience. I will never guilt trip my children when they are adults, she'd vowed. I will never expect more than they are able to give.

That's the whole bloody trouble with the world. Too weak to love properly. Too weak to be wrong.

And she also said that Phoebe was going out with Leo's (the sisters' dad) little brother when she died but also people thought she might have been going out with Leo too even though he was four years older than her! And also that Phoebe is Tyler's mum's sister! So the girl on the bench is actually Tyler's aunt.

phone calls to make. Terrible phone calls.

Yes. I do. And I am. You can be happily married and a feminist.' 'I don't think so. I think that you can only be a feminist if you're single.' 'Oh. That's an interesting counterpoint. Can you elaborate?' 'I shouldn't need to, Alix. You should understand what I'm saying.

She told us all these lies about her, that she used to be a prostitute, brought tricks into the house, that she used to beat her and starve her and of course we were small so we believed her. But then our dad told us it wasn't true, that Mum was just jealous of Grandma because she'd been with Dad before her.

That knife edge of time that could end with a laugh and a hug or a broken finger ir a Chinese burn.

Forty-two is a strange age. Neither young nor old. If I were straight, I suppose I'd be frantically flailing around right now trying to find a last-minute wife with functioning ovaries. As it is, I am not straight, and neither am I the sort of man that other men wish to form lengthy and meaningful relationships with, so that leaves me in the worst possible position—an unlovable gay man with fading looks.

the one that didn't involve tiptoeing around a middle-aged man's fragile masculinity, bringing his flaccid penis back to life like a paramedic every night.

None of them seemed to care. They described her as cold and secretive, difficult and demanding. They described Justin as a hippy, a space cadet, as too nice for Birdie.

can't believe you, Lules. You binned me off because I kissed my ex, and all the while you've got a secret fucking baby.' Tallulah throws

Such a shit, her big brother. He hid it with a mischievous veneer of dark humor, but she sometimes suspected that the darkness ran much deeper.

But here was his lovely dad who did not understand what Rory had

Being a good dancer, for example. Great on a second date, but not so important fifteen years down the road with two children, two careers and a future to worry about. At eight fifteen Nathan

But you loved her, right?' 'Of course. And I still do. But it's terrifying to think that I never knew her at all. Not even a tiny bit.

It all happened so slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly, the change to our parents, to our home, to our lives after they arrived. But that first night, when Birdie appeared on our front step with two large suitcases and a cat in a wicker box, we could never have guessed the impact she would have, the other people she would bring into our lives, that it would all end the way it did.

But he's your boyfriend?" "Partner," she said, "he's my partner. I don't own him. He doesn't own me. All that matters is his happiness." "Yes," I said thoughtfully. "But what about yours?" She didn't reply. My

But no, Scarlett was even worse than Rex, if anything, always wanting to be outdoors, always wanting to run, to disobey, to talk. Oh my God, to talk.' She rests a delicate hand against her cheekbone and then rubs it across her forehead. 'Such a nightmare of a child. And then the teenage years. Oh my goodness. The boys – you know, she lost her virginity when she was thirteen. Thirteen. She was obsessed with boys.