Charlie Garratt > Quotes

“Above my head, an army of hinges creaks in the breeze, crying for want of love and attention.”
― Charlie Garratt, A Pretty Folly

“had said he would be: propping up the bar of the Rose and Crown, surrounded by like-minded philanthropists supporting the brewery.”
― Charlie Garratt, A Shadowed Livery

“Alternatively, he might simply be a sad old man with nothing to occupy his time now he had retired.”
― Charlie Garratt, A Pretty Folly

“Several tea-chests under the stairs, containing items wrapped in newspaper, testified to his recent arrival. ‘I really should get those put away, shouldn’t I, instead of sitting around reading but, you know, after a lifetime of work, I’ve now become used to the idea that there’s always tomorrow.”
― Charlie Garratt, A Pretty Folly

“I suppose we always have Mr Jervis as well. After all, the envelope was found in his cupboard and he has no satisfactory explanation about how it got there. I know those Victorian melodramas always have the butler doing the dirty deed, but it would be nice and tidy if this time he actually had!”
― Charlie Garratt, A Shadowed Livery

“Birmingham’s sweatshops supply caps to factory workers in Lancashire and plus-fours to gentleman anglers on the River Tweed, hats to titled ladies and waistcoats to farm labourers. An odd kind of equality in an unequal world.”
― Charlie Garratt, A Shadowed Livery

“His clothes were poor quality, though his shirt collar was clean and well pressed. The single exception to this was his shoes. My mother once told me to always buy good shoes and a good bed, because if you’re not in one you’re in the other.”
― Charlie Garratt, A Shadowed Livery

“It’s not always as it appears on the surface you know, John. People lie or get things wrong for all sorts of reasons. Everyone is economical with the truth occasionally if it prevents someone they care about being hurt. How often have you told a girlfriend she looks nice in a particular dress even though you don’t like it at all? Sometimes people simply tell us what they think we want to hear to avoid getting into trouble themselves and they disregard the consequences for others. Sometimes they’ll lie to get what they want, like Rose Spicer may have.”
― Charlie Garratt, A Pretty Folly