I want each day to last forever. . . It's a peculiar kind of dissatisfaction, a bittersweet nostalgia for a moment not yet past. Even in the midst of a pleasurable outing I'm aware of how ephemeral it is.

— Christina Baker Kline

I want to say, Christina, that you are ... unusual. And somehow..." her voice trails off. "Your mind-- your curiosity-- will be your comfort.

— Christina Baker Kline

Know what a symbol is?... Shit that stands for shit.

— Christina Baker Kline

Molly is the opposite. So many things have gone wrong for her in her seventeen years that she’s come to expect it. When something does go right, she hardly knows what to think.

— Christina Baker Kline

Molly learned long ago that a lot of the heartbreak and betrayal that other people fear their entire lives, she has already faced. Father dead. Mother off the deep end. Shuttled around and rejected time and time again. And still she breathes and sleeps and grows taller. She wakes up every morning and puts on clothes. So when she says it's okay, what she means is that she knows she can survive just about anything.

— Christina Baker Kline

Most people are remarkably resilient. Even those who have been through war or great loss often find reservoirs of strength. But the legacy of trauma is a heavy burden to bear.

— Christina Baker Kline

My heart is shattered, an all that's left are jagged shards.

— Christina Baker Kline

People have to snatch at happiness when they can, in this world. It is always easier to lose than to find...

— Christina Baker Kline

She has never tried to find out what happened to her family — her mother or her relatives in Ireland. But over and over, Molly begins to understand as she listens to the tapes, Vivian has come back to the idea that the people who matter in our lives stay with us, haunting our most ordinary moments. They're with us in the grocery store, as we turn a corner, chat with a friend. They rise up through the pavement; we absorb them through our soles.

— Christina Baker Kline

She is so white-hot furious she can barely see. She stokes the fire of her hatred, feeding it tidbits about bigoted Dina and spineless mush mouth Ralph, because she knows that just beyond the rage is a sorrow so enervating it could render her immobile. Furthermore, she needs to keep moving, flickering around the room. Furthermore, she needs to fill her bags and get the hell out of here.

— Christina Baker Kline