A.J. Banner > Quotes

“Living well is the best revenge.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“What was the measure of a marriage? These moments of caring and bliss? Or the secrets withheld?”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“He could make anything he said, no matter how outlandish, sound like the truth. That was his gift, his ability to persuade people with his charm, to explain anything away. He could make me question myself. Chip away at my certainty.”
― A.J. Banner, The Poison Garden

“Love—mysterious, inexplicable, perhaps self-destructive. I felt bereft without him, like a ghost pretending to live.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“A sad weariness settled into me, a sense of finality. There was no going back for us now.”
― A.J. Banner, The Poison Garden

“Summer sunlight slants from the east, a million sparkles on the ocean. That first morning here, life was perfect. But underneath my skin, a vague uneasiness grew. This would not last forever.”
― A.J. Banner, The Twilight Wife

“When wings fall off, they always grow back. Soon she'll be flying again.”
― A.J. Banner, The Poison Garden

“Where there is barren soil, she plants a seed. Where there is destruction, she creates hope. Where darkness has spread, she breathes light.”
― A.J. Banner, The Poison Garden

“I didn't want my darkest emotions seeping into her. I wanted her to love life, to feel joy.”
― A.J. Banner, The Poison Garden

“People kept layers of secrets, I realized—the ones held close to the surface, wanting to be revealed, and deeper ones, hidden too far down to be retrieved or sometimes even acknowledged.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“Living well is the best revenge. I”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“in Seattle, had snagged my first book”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“now? I know the anniversary recently passed.”
― A.J. Banner, In Another Light

“Bachman-Turner Overdrive,”
― A.J. Banner, In Another Light

“You’re a bottomless well of important facts.” I”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“It’s been a secret the last couple of months, until we could be sure things were going well. And they are, so we can tell you. Kadin and I are expecting our second child in the spring.” “What? Congratulations!” Eris exclaimed. She burst up from the table and ran around to hug Theresa and Kadin. He smiled distantly. Congratulations were dispensed all around, and even I got up to hug Theresa and Kadin, although I had only just met them. I was happy for Theresa, happy for her good news, but her pregnancy also accentuated my own emptiness.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“kissing”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“Grief is never finished. It just becomes a part of you”
― A.J. Banner

“Change was born of necessity. I had to be practical now.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“Neatness came with age, I thought, along with the decision to color one’s life within the lines.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“But could the good things be fairly weighed against the lies? Or more accurately, against sins of omission?”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“Does anyone ever know everything about anyone else?”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“dryness”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“dresses, her hair long and wispy, and she waved her hands around when she described a story, as if casting a spell. Come back, Aunt Maude, Astrid thinks in desperation. I need you. You still have life left in you. Her head throbs—her stomach hurts. She hasn’t eaten since breakfast. But she can’t leave Maude’s side, not yet. “I’m sorry I didn’t visit you before,” Astrid says softly. “It was too hard to come back here.” Aunt Maude never pushed—until recently. She called, wrote letters with her fountain pen—often smudging the words—and sent gifts. She even visited Astrid in California now and then. But she never lamented the fact that her family no longer visited Heron Bay. I should’ve been here for her, Astrid thinks. “Miss Johansen?” a soft voice says behind her. Astrid turns, and Dr. Sawari summons her to the door. Compact and quick on her feet, the doctor sports a shiny black ponytail, her eyes a startling, intense green. She seems too young to take charge of Aunt Maude’s care.”
― A.J. Banner, Dreaming of Water

“He handed her the bottle. “Woodward Canyon, 2009, best Washington State Chardonnay ever.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“Whatever will be, will be.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“Love—mysterious, inexplicable, perhaps self-destructive.”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“the laboratory evidence that linked her to Todd”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“Maybe he”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor

“finger to her”
― A.J. Banner, The Good Neighbor