Jandy Winterbotham

“Poise was keeping your knees and your lips together, your eyebrows and your nostrils apart.”
― Alan Bradley, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd

“Dogger had once warned me to be wary of any man who introduced himself as 'Mr.' It was an honorific, he said, a mark of respect to be bestowed by others, but never, ever, under any circumstances, upon oneself.”
― Alan Bradley, As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

“She reminded me of something, and suddenly I knew. I was a tiny child again at Radford, my uncle’s home, and he was walking me through the glass-houses in the gardens. There was one flower, an orchid, that grew alone; it was the colour of pale ivory, with one little vein of crimson running through the petals. The scent filled the house, honeyed, and sickly sweet. It was the loveliest flower I had ever seen. I stretched out my hand to stroke the soft velvet sheen, and swiftly my uncle pulled me by the shoulder. ‘Don’t touch it, child. The stem is poisonous.”
― Daphne du Maurier, The King's General

“to survive a family must present an unbroken front to the world.”
― Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind