Gillian White > Quotes

“Eventually she would manage to forget that they were even present, so quickly and foolishly do human beings adjust to unfamiliar situations.”
― Gillian White, The Witch's Cradle

“But she didn’t forget all about it, oh, no. She didn’t forget all about things with so few diversions in her life. Instead they assumed enormous proportions, and if she wasn’t careful she’d find herself dreaming.”
― Gillian White, The Witch's Cradle

“gormless”
― Gillian White, The Witch's Cradle

“The printed words were like soldier ants devouring the page before my eyes – and they came through to my brain with no meaning.”
― Gillian White, Copycat

“They listened to her description of Joey’s early life. It took her an hour to talk them through that, his troubles at school and his damning reputation on the estate, which she dismissed as neighbours’ spite. She dwelt on his reliability, his help around the house and with the kids, his sense of humour, his quick wits… ‘Allow me to stop you there for one moment,’ interrupted Formby-Hart, who had appeared to be dozing. ‘You seem to be describing the sort of boy that I for one have never met. Who is this lad, this little darling who is constantly misrepresented by teachers and neighbours? Even his friends find some of his actions alarming.”
― Gillian White, Refuge

“The trouble with Barry and his mates was that they knew too much. After the recession, a good many of their hard-working, responsible families had found themselves up to their necks in debt and made ill by the terrors of penury, the very penury their parents had come to the new town to escape.”
― Gillian White, The Witch's Cradle