Sibel Hodge > Quotes

“Your confidence and self-esteem have withered away, but the very person you want to get away from is the one you rely on most. And you don’t know when it happened. Can’t pinpoint an exact day, week, or month, because it’s a gradual, subtle process. It creeps up on you slowly. So slowly that you don’t realize you’re bending, breaking, and becoming a different person. A woman who’s not happy, not living her own life, but the life her husband wants instead.”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“If life is like a box of chocolates, then mine is the mother of all coffee creams. You know – the ones that always get left in the box because no one wants them?”
― Sibel Hodge, How to Dump Your Boyfriend in the Men's Room

“Why does anyone stay in a relationship that deep down they know isn’t right? You don’t know why until it happens to you. It’s easy to fool yourself. To stuff things under the surface where they can’t hurt you. To persuade yourself it’s all just normal. Make excuses. There’s a fine line between craziness and love.”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“The trouble was, no one thought about the victims any more. It was all about human rights for the criminal. Injustice was the name of the game now.”
― Sibel Hodge, Into the Darkness

“You have to accept what you can’t change, and change what you can’t accept.”
― Sibel Hodge, Duplicity

“It’s why I picked you. You were feisty and independent, but if you scratched just under the surface, you were vulnerable and fragile. It’s so easy to mould someone into what you want. Watch them turn into your perfect woman and know that it’s all just for you. Their energy dies, and they become compliant and eager to please. It’s all just a matter of control and time.”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“Physical wounds can heal, can’t they? But it takes a long time to recover from having your self-confidence and self-esteem crushed to nothing. I watched him smother the life right out of her”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“I drove to the pickup window and came face to face with Dad. "Dad! What are you doing working in Burger Land?" "Sssh!" He pressed a finger to his lips, glancing around behind him.”
― Sibel Hodge, Voodoo, Lies, and Murder

“few days. Everywhere hurts, even my hands. I have cried so much that I do not think I have any water left in my body. I have never believed in God but I find myself praying. I am not sure who to, but I feel like I have to. If there is a God, how could He let this happen? I do not believe there is any kind of higher being who can help me now. My prayers are not to any kind of God, they are silent messages to keep me strong. Thoughts of Liliana and my mother fill my mind. I wish I could talk to them and tell them I miss them so much there is an ache squeezing my heart. I want to hear their voices and hold them tight. I want to wake up from this nightmare and be safe in their arms. I think of my father and my husband Stefan, too. They have been dead several years, and for once, I am glad. It would rip them apart to know what has”
― Sibel Hodge, Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave

“Why did this happen to me? To the other girls? Doesn’t anyone else know what is going on in the world? Why don’t they send someone to help us?”
― Sibel Hodge, Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave

“She worked three jobs to support us. Eventually, she got strong again. And there was never another argument in the house. We didn’t have to walk round on eggshells all the time. There was no more trying to anticipate his moods that controlled the whole family. I think my childhood really began the day we moved out.’ ‘She sounds brave.’ ‘She is. It’s just such a shame it took her so long to realize it.”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“Choices were always relative. When you had none, you did what you had to in order to survive.”
― Sibel Hodge, Into the Darkness

“Suddenly, Liam grabbed hold of me and pushed me hard against the wall, his mouth on mine, his excitement pressing against my thigh. I tried to push him away, tried to say I wasn’t in the mood after his outburst, but in the end, I thought it best to go along with it. I hated the angry Liam, who either sulked and wouldn’t speak to me for days, or berated me and made snide comments and told me how everything was my fault. So I did nothing when he lifted up my dress and yanked my knickers down, ripping them in the process. Did nothing when he picked me up and dropped me roughly onto the stairs, the hard wooden corners digging into my spine. And when he shoved himself inside me, I pretended I was as excited as him. It was better that way. Easier for me.”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“Why did some people do those things? Because there have always been doers. Right back to the beginning of time, evil has existed in human form. But the followers interested me, too. Why did some people watch and do nothing? What made some watchers join the doers?”
― Sibel Hodge, Into the Darkness

“And when the memories lie, sometimes it's best to let the truth stay hidden”
― Sibel Hodge, Where the Memories Lie

“By the time they found her remains, I hadn't thought about her for years. I'd been too busy getting on with my life. A life I thought was normal.”
― Sibel Hodge, Where the Memories Lie

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm is all about.” -- Haruki Murakami  ”
― Sibel Hodge, The See-Through Leopard

“I don’t know why I’ve always been interested in the evil things people do. I’m not alone, I know that. People who devour true crime stories. People who watch the horrors on the news every day or read about them in the paper. People who rubberneck at accidents. They want to see it, hear it, talk about it. The dark side of human nature is fascinating to people. We’re so obsessed with all the bad things that happen in the world and not with the good.”
― Sibel Hodge, Into the Darkness

“Christmas Eve. But fat, jolly old Santa is actually the modern figure of St Nicholas”
― Sibel Hodge, Santa Claus, Lies, and Murder

“was searching through his things. Mud and clay. Of course! Jamie would never have usually put away his boots in the cupboard in that state. He would’ve cleaned them first. Unless…unless he was in a hurry or had been distracted. ‘I found fresh mud on his boots just after he died. I didn’t think”
― Sibel Hodge, Untouchable

“I was pushing thirty-six now,”
― Sibel Hodge, The Fashion Police

“A loud noise from what sounded like a hammer drill reverberated through the windows.”
― Sibel Hodge, Where the Memories Lie

“No. I know me. I know I’m not bloody losing it. I’m the sane one. It’s everyone else who’s the problem.”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“Trust. Five small letters that can have such a big effect on your life.”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“drugs in my life,” he cries huffily. “But you wanna know who’s a coke head?” Feeling a bit restless, I swivel my chair, spinning it round and round in circles. “Who?” I ask dizzily. “Tatiana,” he”
― Sibel Hodge, Fourteen Days Later

“Not big ones, anyway. Not important I’ve-just-killed-someone”
― Sibel Hodge, Where the Memories Lie

“Is anyone really happy? I mean, you look at other people’s lives and you think they have a great job or a great marriage and they seem so happy, but you’re only seeing what they want you to see.”
― Sibel Hodge, Look Behind You

“ramblers. All would be carried out with me when I exited after each stint.”
― Sibel Hodge, Untouchable

“She writes in an eclectic mix of genres, and is a passionate human and animal rights advocate.”
― Sibel Hodge, Untouchable

“I really tried not to sound snarky, but it didn’t work.”
― Sibel Hodge, Where the Memories Lie