Becky Manawatu > Quotes

“I thought how many terrible words there were, and how when they were let loose in the world, they sucked up all the air around them.”
― Becky Manawatu, Auē

“...he never stopped looking for good where others wouldn’t. And he loved damage. Adored it.”
― Becky Manawatu, Auē

“Only the other boys my age could do dumb shit fearlessly. They knew there was a bottom to their fall. That if they really messed up, someone would probably notice and stop them. The bottomlessness to my life was dizzying. The choices were as overwhelming as that terrible sea was.”
― Becky Manawatu

“No one played songs here. No one listened to music or told stories. They didn't even realise not doing those things made them bad people. The worst thing was I didn't think Aunty Kat was a bad person, she was just a ghost of a person, and I knew why. Uncle Stu made people doubt they existed, and when you doubted you existed long enough, you started to disappear.”
― Becky Manawatu, Auē

“I could see she’d never seen something like it before. It made me proud to have something that could make Beth stop talking. “It’s the sea” I told her. I wanted to tell her more. The story Tauk had told me, but it didn’t come. Just sadness. Just wishes. Just come back, Tauk.”
― Becky Manawatu, Auē