Louisa Morgan > Quotes

“Because men believe it’s their right to tell women how to live. They tell us who to marry, what to wear, when to go out and when to stay. Some men beat their wives, and no one speaks a word about it. But despite all the power they hold over us, they feel powerless against our kind. We resist. We cause things to happen. We interfere with their plans, with what they think is the natural order. That frightens them. Men hate being afraid, so they hate us instead.”
― Louisa Morgan, A Secret History of Witches

“She had felt from the beginning that horses were easier to understand than people. They made their wishes clear. They bestowed their affection without conditions. They didn't love you for a time, then stop loving you for no apparent reason.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“Thick boughs of white oak shaded the ground, sheltering riches of sage, red clover, sometimes mushrooms. Harriet breathed in the scents of the fecund earth as she crouched beside a patch of nettles to begin her morning's work.
It was a good day for her labors. She found a lovely bit of mugwort beside the nettles, and deeper in the woods she spotted burdock, which could be elusive. There was amaranth, too, the herb the shepherds called pigweed.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“Morwen kept a good pace over the green lawn, but she paused in the side garden, where the sorrel tree's feathery leaves had turned a brilliant scarlet. A great white hydrangea made a backdrop for clumps of lobelia and lilyturf.”
― Louisa Morgan, A Secret History of Witches

“Like true country people, they loved watching the countryside change with the seasons. They savored the trees turning green in the spring. They saw the summer flowers blossom, fade, and drop. They exclaimed over the autumn colors, gold and red and rust. They watched the leaves fall, and the fields turn sere, to be purified by winter. The wheel of the year turned once, twice, three times.”
― Louisa Morgan, A Secret History of Witches

“There was nothing like the pain of loss to teach a person that time was an illusion.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“August evenings on the peninsula were long, the sun lazing down the western horizon as if it had all the time in the world to go to its rest.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“An old philosopher said you can never step in the same river twice.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“I want to be what you are. To do what do you.'
'To be an herbalist?'
'To be a witch,' Annis declared.
'Just be certain you want that for the right reasons.'
'I want it because it will set me free,' Annis said.
Harriet answered, 'That is the best possible reason.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“Behind her the rhododendron was at its peak, blossoms shining like pink stars above her head. The air was sweet with the scent of new leaves, and as I came down the path, a rufous hummingbird flashed between the camellia bush and the old cedar tree, a tiny arrow of scarlet and green.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“Frightened people are dangerous.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“The sun shone with all the gaiety and promise of early summer. The new green leaves glistened with it, and the apple and pear blossoms, just past their prime, drifted in the warm air like white butterflies, powdering the orchard floor with their bruised petals.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“I held up the puppy so I could look into her dark eyes, fringed with ridiculously long black lashes. Sweet puppy breath wafted across my face, and her little heart thudded under my fingers so that I felt as if I had a hummingbird cupped in my two hands. I was in love with her even before I returned her to my chest and cradled her there. The warmth of her tiny body seeped through the bones of my rib cage to caress my sore heart, bringing sudden tears to my eyes.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“Why is it your business where I go, but not mine where you go?"
"I'm your mother," Irene said coldly.
"Du temps en temps," Morwen snapped. From time to time.”
― Louisa Morgan, A Secret History of Witches

“The fox barked at her, one sharp, short sound.
Without expecting to, Irène laughed. "What?" she said aloud.
The fox's mouth opened, showing its white teeth, and its tongue lolled, laughing with her.
A sense of recognition tingled in Irène's bones and throbbed in her forehead. Her laughter died. She came to her feet, facing the creature. It scrambled down from the tree trunk, its lithe body weaving through the branches as easily as a stream of water might. It stood on the opposite bank. Its tail arced above its back, a plume of red and black. Its unblinking gaze fixed itself on her.
Irène whispered, "Are you here for me?"
Again the fox's mouth opened in its grin, and its tail waved once, twice, before it leaped the little brook as easily as if it could fly. Irène stood very still as the fox stepped toward her on narrow black feet as dainty as a dancer's. It---he, she could see now---pressed his cold black nose against the back of her hand, and, when she turned it, nosed her palm.
She thrilled at the touch, though the touch of so many other beasts disgusted her. He was different, this fox. It was not just that he was beautiful, and graceful. It was more, much more. Her soul knew him. Her power flared in his presence.
He took a step back, his eyes never leaving hers, then whirled and leaped back over the brook to disappear into the forest on the other side. The last thing she saw was that lush red-and-black tail, switching back and forth as he faded into the dimness of the woods.
Irène brought her palm to her nose and sniffed the toasty smell of him. She knew what he was, and she knew what it meant. Her mother had Aramis. Her grandmother, Ursule had told her, had had an ugly gray cat. And she---now, surely, a witch in full possession of her power---had a glorious vulpine creature like no other. She had her fox. She would see him again.”
― Louisa Morgan, A Secret History of Witches

“Being in love is a special kind of insanity. It’s as if the mind gives way under some primal drive, a need to touch, a compulsion to possess, almost to devour.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“Robbie said he never saw a horse take so easily to a rider, but Annis wasn't surprised. Bits always understood what she wanted, from a slow walk to a trot, from a canter to a gallop. He was as eager as she for their more daring rides, the ones they made when no one could see them. He loved to run, and they both loved jumping. He sailed effortlessly over fallen trees, mane and tail rippling. He popped over rows of shrubs as easily as a leaping deer, making Annis feel as if she could fly.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“I thought of Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight, struggling to understand what was true and what was not, doubting her own sanity as her husband manipulated her.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“The last week of April was cool but sunny, with breezes that smelled richly of sweet box and more faintly, but distinctly, of apple blossoms.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“The summer sun glowed on the white clapboards, which were in desperate need of a coat of paint. The air was sweet with the scents of salt water and a jumble of untended rosebushes in riotous bloom along one side of the house. The garden was vivid with greenery, though it seemed all the plants had grown into a tangled mass. Rich, well-dug black soil showed here and there. I looked over my shoulder and saw an aging apple orchard at the end of an empty field and beyond it an enticing glimpse of sapphire water.
"Is that Hood Canal?"
Will followed my gaze. "Yes!" He jumped down from the porch and started back to the garden gate. "Let's go see it."
My sandals weren't the best shoes for tramping through the long grass of the field or for navigating the root-choked earth beneath the apple trees. I had to slip-slide my way down the cut in the bank to the gravelly beach beside the canal. There was no wind, and the smooth water glistened like satin.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“was always easier to be furious with the other woman than with the errant husband.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Great Witch of Brittany

“The wet garden steamed gently after the rain, fairy clouds rising above the greenery into the slanting sunshine.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“Alexander had been gone twenty-five years, but the passing of the decades had not diminished her grief. There was nothing like the pain of loss to teach a person that time was an illusion.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“The first rays of the sun charmed curls of mist from the grass of Sheep Meadow, fairy clouds that sparkled silver against the green backdrop of the pasture. Harriet slowed her steps to take in the sight, savoring the slant of spring light and the emerald glow of new leaves before she crossed the meadow into the chilly shadows of the woods.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“We're with the federal government. I'm Mr. Harrison. This is Mr. Woods."
I didn't move, and I kept my left foot wedged securely behind the door. I wasn't as tall as either of them, but I was strong, a farmer, an athlete, a chopper of wood and hoister of fence posts. I trusted my ability to slam the door in their faces. I said, "What branch?"
"What?"
"What branch of federal government?"
Harrison's mouth quirked to one side as if he was resisting a patronizing smile. "Information," he said.
"That's not a branch." I braced my foot more securely. "The FBI is a branch. The War Department is a branch.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“Forgive me for being blunt, Dora, but that’s nonsense. We are no less passionate than the men we love. The trouble is that when women love, they bear the greater burden. It has always been that way, I’m afraid.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches

“Living alone had made me sensitive. When Will was still at the farm, I didn't differentiate the scent of wild fennel from that of slowly ripening blackberries or notice how cloud patterns changed from season to season. I didn't scan the sky to anticipate the weather or feel the air with my fingertips to decide whether to hang washing on the line. Sometimes I thought I might be acquiring some of Willow's talents. When she put up her muzzle into the breeze, her nostrils fluttered as if she were riffling the pages of a book, learning secrets carried on the wind. It seemed to me I sensed almost as much as she did.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“You were working for Army Artillery."
"These were our own aircraft, coming from Ault. Why would I report them?"
"What did they look like?"
It was Woods who asked that question. I looked directly into those flat, gray eyes. "Mr. Woods." My pretense of a fragile feminine voice evaporated as I spoke with confidence and a touch of temper. "It was a world war. We still have enemies. If I had seen experimental American planes, I certainly wouldn't describe them to two perfect strangers who showed up at my door and asked me a lot of odd questions."
Woods blinked but gave no other sign that he had taken in my insult. Harrison cleared his throat and fiddled with his notebook, but he didn't seem to know what to say next.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“It was one of those heady, blue-crystal days we knew well on the peninsula, days that made it seem as if summer could last forever. The bay glittered as if dusted with diamonds. In the distance, the Olympics glittered, too, their highest peaks frosted with snow, vivid against the sky.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“Witch should be a beautiful word, signifying wisdom and knowledge and discipline, but it isn’t used that way. It’s been made an insult, implying evil, causing fear. The word has been perverted. —Harriet Bishop, 1890”
― Louisa Morgan, The Age of Witches