Kia Abdullah > Quotes

“I—I want forgiveness, for others and for myself. I want to accept that the journey is all there is. That when you get there, there’s no there there and so you keep going, keep trying, keep looking for ways to fill that hole but it will never be filled because we are just human and life has a hole – it just does. That’s what I want.”
― Kia Abdullah, Take It Back

“Who knew that absence could feel so solid? It wasn't an emptiness but a presence; a hard ball of something tumid.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“After all, weren't women taught to compete with one another; to observe, asses, rank, and critique...”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“What power could a holy book wield if you were intent on being deceitful?”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“accused Zara of being servile”
― Kia Abdullah, Take It Back

“He died.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“You can’t have everything, she told herself for the thousandth time. She had a highly successful business, a hard-won reputation, a comfortable home and lifestyle, a sister she would die for and a husband she still loved. Surely, surely, that was enough.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“It wasn’t the heft and rush of action that left Leila shellshocked, but its sudden ceasing; the quieting inside the room because that’s when she knew there was nothing to save.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“Pain, even in a marriage, was sometimes best felt alone.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“I promise you, Leila. Women like you don’t go to prison.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“That was the thing about grief: once the tears ceased, you were left with a hatred of everything.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“That was the thing about grief: once the tears ceased”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“Leila was not a rule breaker. She believed in order, fairness and justice.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“Pain”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“it was older sisters and brothers who often made the biggest difference.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin

“I can’t tell you to ignore them,” she said. “You will always care what people think of you—that’s just the way of the world—but you can decide how you act in return. You can choose to be cruel like them to make yourself feel tall”
― Kia Abdullah, Take It Back

“She was the mother, she had carried Toby in her body, she had ventured to that frozen ledge where life drops into death and returned with their son victoriously. It was her right to fall apart. It was her right to feel this pain.”
― Kia Abdullah, Next of Kin