Mustreadbooks Quotes

“Silence filled the room, deafening in its power, after the ranch hands had left the house. Only the steady ticking of the mantelpiece clock pierced through the air, rasping her nerves as Katherine stepped to the armchair and lowered herself into it.
She felt Joe’s disdainful gaze fixed on her.
He hadn’t said a single word since the moment he had entered, not even while she had given the three young herders a proper talking-to for their nightly trip. Instead, he had been watching her with that typical sneer of his, standing with one shoulder propped against the doorframe, his thumbs casually hooked in his gunbelt and one leg crossed over the other, his mere presence unnerving her.
Irritated, she cast him a glance.
That stupid, unbearably smug lout!
The scornful look on his face spoke volumes about his disapproving her choice of punishment for the men. No doubt, he would have had them flogged or locked up for a week on bread and water, as hard, relentless men like him were wont to do.
But she didn’t approve of such draconian measures.”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Breaking Barriers

“Woman is equal to man, my dearest brother. ‘There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus,’” she quoted fiercely. “One!”
He stepped back to give her space, his gaze perusing over her face. “As far as I recall that story, woman was formed from a rib of man,” he sneered. “Don’t sound like equality to me.”
“And you were formed from a handful of dirt,” she snapped back. “Did it never occur to you that women crave more in life than raising children, keeping house, and darning their husbands’ holey socks? That they have just as much right to make something out of their lives as men do?”
“Heavens!” Joe rolled his eyes. “So what? The sun’s supposed to revolve around the earth from now on, huh?”
“Why shouldn’t women be equal to men?” Katherine shot him a defiant look. “Why not give us the right to vote, too? Do you really think you’re so much smarter than us?” She let out an incensed snort. “Mr. O’Donegan can hardly write his name, but in a few years he’ll be allowed to vote, while I had excellent schooling in Boston and won’t be permitted to do so. Where is the justice in that? Just because I’m a woman?”
She watched one corner of Joe’s mouth lift into a smug smirk, the sight fanning her anger all the more.
“The truth is, women are capable of judging matters just as clearly and soundly as men—perhaps even better,” she insisted with grim conviction. “I dare say we could succeed in any profession hitherto reserved for men alone. We work as hard as you do and bear just as much responsibility, so why should we not become doctors, lawyers, or judges as well?” She raised her chin combatively and fixed him with a challenging look. “No, I believe you men deny us women equal rights for one reason only: because you’re afraid we can do it far better than you!”
Joe snorted, amused, and studied her through narrowed eyes.
“So what you’re saying is ya think ya can drive cattle just as well as Tom, Luis—or me?” he jeered, placing his hands on his hips, cocky as ever.
“With a little practice, I sure can.”
“Ridin’ sidesaddle—in that posh ridin’ habit of yours?”
For a moment, Katherine held her breath as realization hit her.
No, riding sidesaddle wouldn’t do, of course.
She would have to take to riding astride for working cattle, even though the idea of sitting a horse with her legs apart shocked her to her very core. But no matter how shameless it struck her, she would have to take the risk if she wanted to succeed.
“I’m sure I can find something more suitable to wear.”
He cocked his head to the side, a provocative glint in his eyes. “More suitable how? Pants and chaps like a man?”
The very notion made her head spin. But there was no way back now. “Why not?”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Breaking Barriers

“All of a sudden, a terrifying clatter, scarcely three feet from where she was squatting, nearly made her jump out of her skin.
Katherine gasped.
Instinctively, she leaped to the side to get away from whatever was making the ghastly noise—but in her haste she tripped over something protruding from the grass and lost her balance. With a startled cry, she toppled over, the impact knocking the air from her lungs as she hit the ground. A sharp pain jolted through her left foot, making her groan.
But there was no time to check her injured foot.
Struck with terror, she saw a dark shadow move among the bare shrubs. Something white flashed in the pale moonlight—closer than she cared for—while the unsettling clattering sounds seemed to increase.
Panic rolled through her.
Her heart pounding frantically against her ribs, Katherine struggled to back away, to put distance between herself and that ghoulish creature, yet the searing sensation that shot through her foot made her buckle and collapse back onto the grass.
In utter desperation, she gave a yell of fear and tried to crawl on all fours. Thorny branches grazed her face, then something caught her nightcap, jerking her head back and arresting her escape.
Her nerves spun out of control.
Yelling again, she thrashed about, ripping the cap from her head in sheer horror as she fought to free herself.”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Breaking Barriers

“Whatever the breed’s intentions were with Katherine, he’d sure put a spoke in his wheel. Had he known that this insolent bastard would show his face again, that he’d try to inveigle her with his smooth manners and even lure her out onto the prairie to—God forbid—seduce her, he would have put a stop to it back in November, that very day he had caught them in the barn. Yeah, he’d have set Katherine straight then and there. Told her bluntly and unmistakably to keep away from that Métis for good.
But he hadn’t.
He had underestimated the damned situation. Been wrong about Katherine, too.
Joe ground his teeth in anger and picked up his pace.
He didn’t even want to imagine how far this cursed dalliance might have gone already. Katherine’s lies alone told him enough.
Yes, she had lied to his face, shamelessly—she, of all people! That straight-laced, prim and proper East Coast goose, with her daily Bible readings! She had even dared deny that kiss, flat-out!
Goddammit! What the hell did she think she was doing?
Had his warnings not been plain enough?”
― Melanie Nova, The Avant-gardiste: Breaking Barriers

“Small acts of kindness. Radical self-love. Fierce truth-telling. These are antidotes to the despair that threatens to consume us.”
― Ken Breniman, Subversive Acts of Humanity: A Survival Guide for Choosing Evolution over Self-Destruction