Hilary Boyd > Quotes

“Sixty is heaven," she [bohemian Aunt Norma] told Jeanie as they sat having tea. "The world is done with you, you become to all intents and purposes invisible, particularly if you are a woman. I like to think of it as your third life. There's childhood, then adult conformity - work, family, responsibility - then just when everyone assumes it's all over and you're on the scrap heap of old age, freedom! You can finally be who you are, not what society wants you to be, not who 'you' think you ought to be.”
― Hilary Boyd

“pointing towards the doorway.”
― Hilary Boyd, A Most Desirable Marriage

“But Jeanie had just gone through the motions. No one would have realized, except perhaps her too-perceptive son-in-law, but that was one of the few perks of maturity: you knew how to dissemble.”
― Hilary Boyd, Thursdays in the Park

“I know you are called Daniel now, and I shall call you that from now on, but Tom was the name I gave you when you were born. I am writing to say that I would be very happy to meet you. If you are still keen, I suggest we do so at the house of Marjory Best, the lady who took me in when I was pregnant with you and who’s happy to host our meeting. She lives in Kent, about eight miles from Canterbury, and her nearest station is Faversham. I don’t know where you live, but I hope this isn’t too inconvenient for you. I thought it would be better to meet there than in a noisy public place.”
― Hilary Boyd, Tangled Lives

“two and a half,’ Jack was saying. ‘And?’ she muttered, half asleep and not really paying attention. ‘I was just thinking,’ Jack went on, his voice coming to her almost like a lullaby. ‘Maybe we should begin to think about another one.’ ‘Another one?’ Stella repeated sleepily. Then she was suddenly wide awake. ‘A child, you mean?’ She felt Jack nod, his head brushing her own, then she heard him chuckle. ‘Of course a child! We haven’t got a dog or a goldfish, thank God.’ He was silent for a moment. ‘It’d be just over a three-year gap, if you got pregnant right away, like you did with Jonny.’ Stella looked up at him, his face just visible in the glow from the streetlight filtering through the calico blinds. They had always wanted a second child. Neither she nor Jack had siblings and they both felt they’d missed out. Stella didn’t want Jonny growing up with the sort of maternal monitoring – the need to be perfect because you’re the only one – that had blighted her own childhood. ‘He’ll need someone to visit the nursing home with, when we both go dotty,’ Jack said. Which made them laugh in disbelief that they could ever be old, let alone demented.”
― Hilary Boyd, The Anniversary