Melanie Daves

“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

“And, despite his assiduous preparation, it had taken him by surprise. You can think something often enough, but you will never be prepared for your heart disintegrating. After Debbie’s death the village gathered around him, carried him through. Walking through this village, where he knows everyone and everyone knows him, Steve is grateful that at least he feels loved. Because if you don’t feel loved, it’s difficult to feel anything at all.”
― Richard Osman, We Solve Murders

“It's a funny thing about being alone. You never really notice it when it's happening. You're aware that nobody else is there, but [...] as with wading into cold water, you acclimate to the relative solitude until it doesn't even bother you anymore. You don't realize that your hands and toes have grown numb until there is a sudden burst of warmth that sends needles through your extremities.”
― Carissa Orlando, The September House

“After surviving that hell, would he still have been the kind of person who made choices we could understand?”
― Han Kang, We Do Not Part