Melanie Daves

“When old friends die, you’re furious, because you’ve never quite finished what you were saying to them.”
― Richard Osman, The Impossible Fortune

“but, really, unconditional love has a huge flaw. If you love me no matter what, who I actually am doesn’t matter. If someone loves your essence, your very being, what can you do to make them love you more or love you less? Nothing: there is no space. So the only option left to you is to continually prod at that unconditional love, to test it and stretch it, to mock it even.”
― Richard Osman, The Impossible Fortune

“Always alone, and never alone: that was grief.”
― Richard Osman, The Impossible Fortune

“He looks at me and says, 'Somebody should have caught this. Somebody should have stopped what was being done to you.'
'I don't think they could have,' I say. But it's nice that it matters to him.
'I can give you the name of someone who can go over your medical history in detail, someone you can talk to about . . . what happened. It's never too late.'
He sounds unsure and I understand why. Sometimes it is too late. I think I finally understand the difference between now and then. 'Maybe some other time,' I say. 'Right now I'm kind of tired of therapy.'
He looks like he wants to say more but he doesn't, and I'm so grateful to him for that that I just start crying.”
― Catriona Ward, The Last House on Needless Street