Tonstant Weader

“Sometimes when she woke from a flabbergasting dream Liz would lie very still to see if she could net it before it fled; perfectly still, eyes closed, not moving her head, as if the slightest shift would tip the story-bearing liquid, break its fragile meniscus and spill the night’s elusive catch.”
― Helen Simpson, Cockfosters

“What’s the most basic freedom we have?” Witzbold asked. An earnest expression dominated his face. Zeiger extended a hand and fished another dried plum from the bag. He chewed, reflecting. “To end our lives when we want to,” he said. “Even that can be controlled,” Witzbold said. “No, it’s the freedom to feel what we feel. You’re right in this preface. Infants know only what their parents want them to know. They would remain infants for eternity if they couldn’t self-determine. True existence begins when we can make choices. Feel what we must and think what we may. Men stripped of that are nothing but children, as you say. When was the last time you had your own feelings?”
― Jennifer Hofmann, The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures

“there are between life partners sliding layers of history, tectonic plates of it shifting over the decades together.”
― Helen Simpson, Cockfosters

“Joan thinks then that writers have infinite choices and mothers nearly no choice at all.”
― Cherise Wolas, The Resurrection of Joan Ashby