Roisin Meaney > Quotes

“She replaced her phone, closed her eyes, and forced herself to begin measuring flour, sugar, and butter. For some reason mental baking usually sent her right to sleep.”
― Roisin Meaney, Semi-Sweet

“Patrick thought about the meals around Geraldine and Stephen's kitchen table. The roast chickens fragrant with tarragon and lemon, the rich casseroles, Stephen's tangy, oozing blue-cheese burgers. The mismatched crockery, the casual, relaxed conversation. Something Hannah had baked- raspberry roulade, apple strudel, sour-cream coffee cake- usually rounding off the meal.”
― Roisin Meaney, Semi-Sweet

“She told them about the mini-cupcakes she'd been asked to provide for a christening. "I'm going to introduce them into the shop, maybe three days a week, see how they sell. They're fiddly, but there's a better markup on them."
She described a new variety she was trying out in the regular size. "Pineapple-mango. I'm calling it Tropical Delight.”
― Roisin Meaney, Semi-Sweet

“young women accusing him of ruining their lives. He’d walked to work along sunny, tree-lined streets, remembering the crowded, silent tubes of London, the snarl of rainy-day rush-hour traffic, and he’d swum in the clear blue sea at weekends, eyeing the elegant caramel-skinned Italian sunbathers. For the first few months”
― Roisin Meaney, The Last Week of May

“So they ate and drank, and each kept her secret from the other, and the sun came and went.”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“grey, the cold biting. Caroline wore the heather-coloured herringbone wool coat that Florence had found in one of her weekly trawls through the charity shops. It was slightly big on the shoulders, but roomy enough to accommodate her new shape. Around her neck she’d wrapped the cashmere shawl, its softness and warmth a blessing. ‘Be back before you know it,’ Florence said, rubbing condensation from the windscreen with her gloved hand. ‘Three days, two nights. It’ll fly by.’ Caroline doubted that, but she made no reply as they pulled away from the cottage. Outside the station Florence parked in a loading bay, something she did regularly. As far as Caroline knew, she never got a parking ticket. The traffic wardens must recognise the grey van, and decide to leave well enough alone. They walked in. Caroline joined the queue at the ticket desk. ‘Return to Brighton,’ she said to the clerk when her turn came. ‘Change in London,’ he replied, barely glancing at her. Out in the area at the rear, they scanned the parked buses. ‘There’s yours,’ Florence said, pointing. ‘Get on and find a seat before they’re gone.’ They’d exchanged presents the night before, after Caroline’s confession. Florence had given her a jar of hand cream and a pair of fur-lined boots. They’re not new, she’d said of the boots, but they’ll keep you warm. Caroline’s gift to her was a sky blue cashmere wrap that she’d knitted one afternoon when Florence was out at work. Predictably, Florence had tut-tutted at the expense – You have more money than sense – but when Caroline had wrapped”
― Roisin Meaney, The Reunion

“you?’ she demanded, and two small heads nodded. Walter peered at them benignly. Typical”
― Roisin Meaney, One Summer

“She opened the fridge and took out butter and eggs and left them on the worktop. She filled the cups of four muffin trays with pink paper liners decorated with red and white hearts. She refused to dwell on the fact that Sunday was Valentine's Day, and that whichever customers bought one or more of her special sweetheart cupcakes tomorrow (strawberry center, white chocolate icing, sugar-paste heart on top) would in all likelihood be spending Valentine's Day with someone they loved, and who loved them back.”
― Roisin Meaney, Semi-Sweet

“At least half the crowd had been over forty, most of them women. But the director had chosen Judith, which had made her feel foolishly delighted.”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“Oh, I understand," said Judith, not understanding at all.”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“tune”
― Roisin Meaney, The People Next Door

“She made tea for herself at least twice a day and never once asked Harry if he'd like a cup. He always offered if he was making it, and she always said yes. But life was too short to let that kind of thing upset you”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“Women and their hair. The undoing of him.”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“tears to her eyes that”
― Roisin Meaney, After the Wedding

“So easy sometimes to make another person happy. And so nice that it gladdened your own heart too.”
― Roisin Meaney, One Summer

“What now, Judith O'Sullivan? Where to now?”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“A hundred and forty-four, twelve trays of twelve. Were 144 cupcakes enough for one day? There was no way of knowing. What if she'd made too many chocolate-orange and not enough lemon-lime? What if everyone wanted vanilla-coconut and nobody looked at the mocha? What if people hated the cream-cheese icing and only went for the ones topped with buttercream? Was Clongarvin ready for mascarpone frosting?”
― Roisin Meaney, Semi-Sweet

“of horror on her face. ‘Well, I”
― Roisin Meaney, The People Next Door

“scooped”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday: A warm and captivating page-turner about love, friendship and new beginnings

“You turned left for Caroline's house.
His house, then their house, and now Caroline's house.”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“It was much lonelier in winter, he felt much further from her.”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“Nora looked without appetite at the cheese selection Adam was putting on the table- insipid white cheddar, blue that wasn't half blue enough, Camembert that looked too firm to have been out of the fridge for very long- and thought with yearning of chunks of Monterey Jack scattered with toasted pecans, melting slices of Swiss draped over prosciutto, Neufchatel spread thickly on a warm bagel, scarmoza drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with black pepper.”
― Roisin Meaney, Semi-Sweet

“Up to her eyes in recipes and vanilla essence and poppy seeds and dried cranberries and chocolate chunks.”
― Roisin Meaney, Semi-Sweet

“Sorry," Theo said. "None of my business. Tell me to shut up."
"Shut up," Ellen said calmly.
They were getting to know each other.”
― Roisin Meaney, Half Seven on a Thursday

“Bestseller so far?"
"Chocolate-vanilla, easily."
"So you have those every day, as a staple. Write it down. Worst seller?"
She thought. "Not sure... maybe forest fruits, or apple-cinnamon; I definitely had a few of both left over."
"So you only do those once in a while. Go on, write it down.”
― Roisin Meaney, Semi-Sweet