Katrine Engberg > Quotes

“Lies tend to settle over the heart like plastic wrap, making it hard for the love to breathe.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“The butterfly that draws the least attention to itself is the most dangerous.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“Some burdens don't become easier to bear just because you share them.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“WRITING A MURDER mystery is like trying to braid a spiderweb, thousands of threads stick to your fingers and break if you don’t keep your focus.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“She would probably have to lay off drinking wine on weekdays for a little while, however sad that was. It was so tedious to not drink.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Harbor

“bibelots”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“Couldn’t a pill help me?” Esther held up a hand defensively. “A happy pill?” “You mean an antidepressant?” He smiled wryly, setting his notepad down on the highly polished desk in front of the window. “Those doesn’t make people happy, only relieve the acute crisis for those suffering from depression.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“American beer always made him feel like an extra in a Levi's ad”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“the way it was in their family, bodies straight but minds heavy.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“As the old proverb put it, you need to have fire in your mouth when you’re dealing with the devil. Or maybe that was just something his father had come up with to justify his daily pack of Lucky Strikes.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Harbour

“Trust is an odd element, one of the hardest building blocks of human relationships to fully understand. It demands honesty, reliability, and openness—that much we know. But fundamentally it’s either there or it’s not.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Harbor

“At 4:00 p.m. it started raining again, so heavily that it sounded like someone vacuuming.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“How little space we take up when we die, she thought. A stone with a few words and some numbers to cover a whole life story.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Harbor

“Jeppe’s head fell. Damn it! Why do we insist on embracing our parents with sawblades on our arms?”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“The disadvantage to feeling whole with another human being is that when they go, you’re left with half a person at most.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“It’s like I’m sort of numb on the inside, like I’m stuck,” she said. “I’m not doing badly. I’m just not really doing well, either.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“Are patients’ moods really lifted by sentimental entertainment no healthy person would tolerate for five minutes?”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“Copenhagen is a dormant plant that lives off the scant sunlight falling on its leaves.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“If God didn’t want people to drink, she should make life a little less difficult,”
― Katrine Engberg, The Harbor

“Why do we deal with death so poorly when it’s the one inescapable condition we all have to face? Where do you put your grief once all the rituals associated with death are over and everyone is busy moving on?”
― Katrine Engberg, The Harbor

“Being the boss was draining when everyone thought they had just as much right to make decisions.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Sanctuary

“In this moment, she would be god.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“There are limits to what one can tolerate. When the so-called caretakers ruin instead and the world watches without intervening, then a new set of rules emerges. A new justice.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“And the older we get, the more we insist on our right to have our quirks and preferences left in peace.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Harbour

“Quand elle avait vidé son bureau de l’université, en janvier, et organisé la fête d’adieu la plus extravagante de la décennie, elle s’était sentie soulagée. Des amis lui avaient demandé si elle ne ressentait pas de vide à présent qu’elle ne devait plus se lever pour aller travailler. Mais Esther ne s’était jamais sentie aussi bien. Ne plus avoir à gérer les petites guerres intestines du département et des étudiants gâtés n’était pas une perte. Maintenant, elle pouvait enfin se mettre à écrire le livre qu’elle avait toujours eu envie d’écrire. Finis les articles universitaires ; elle s’était lancée dans l’intrigue et les personnages avec un plaisir enfantin. Au moment où Julie avait emménagé, elle avait presque immédiatement reconnu en elle sa victime. La jolie fille de la campagne au passé embrouillé, presque trop évident, et pourtant avec tous les mystères qui la rendaient intéressante. La mère morte et le père dominant, la forte volonté derrière le sourire tranquille et le désir dans les yeux. Elle était complexe. Maintenant, elle était morte.

Esther revint dans le salon et prit son téléphone. Ça ne pouvait pas être une coïncidence ! Elle était obligée d’en parler à la police.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“The only good thing about a divorce is how delightfully slim the unhappiness makes”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“Back when life wasn’t yet winding down and everything was still possible.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Tenant

“When you’re seventeen, the world should be like a buffet of options.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Butterfly House

“Everything is allowed here.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Sanctuary

“They could at least try! But that’s not how we humans are. And the older we get, the more we insist on our right to have our quirks and preferences left in peace.”
― Katrine Engberg, The Harbor