“What you see is what you get," these women said about themselves. For me lying created just the right amount of problems and what you saw was just one of my four or five faces -- each real, each with different needs. The only dangerous lie was one that asked me to compress myself down into a single convenient entity that one person could understand. I was a kaleidoscope, each glittering piece of glass changing as I turned.”
― All Fours
― All Fours
“no reason was turning out to be a major theme in life. generally speaking, when real pain was involved, there was no reason. no one to hold accountable, no apology.
pain just was. it radiated with no narrative and no end.”
― All Fours
pain just was. it radiated with no narrative and no end.”
― All Fours
“But this was no good, this line of thought. This was the thinking that had kept every woman from her greatness. There did not have to be an answer to the question why; everything important started out mysterious and this mystery was like a great sea you had to be brave enough to cross. How many times had I turned back at the first ripple of self-doubt? You had to withstand a profound sense of wrongness if you ever wanted to get somewhere new. So far each thing I had done in Monrovia was guided by a version of me that had never been in charge before. A nitwit? A madwoman? Probably. But my more seasoned parts just had to be patient, hold their tongues - their many and sharp tongues - and give this new girl a chance.”
― All Fours
― All Fours
“Without a child I could dance across the sexism of my era, whereas becoming a mother shoved my face right down into it.”
― All Fours
― All Fours
“Harris couldn’t see the haunting and this was the worst part: to be living with someone who fundamentally didn’t believe me and was really, really sick of having to pretend to empathize—or else be the bad guy! In his own home! How infuriating for him. And how infuriating to be the wife and not other women who could enjoy how terrific he was. How painful for both of us, especially given that we were modern, creative types used to living in our dreams of the future.”
― All Fours
― All Fours
The 52 Book Club: 2025 / 2026 Challenge
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This group is for those participating in The 52 Book Club's annual challenges! With 52 unique prompts released each year, the goal is to diversify our ...more
Erin’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Erin’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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