Tawnya

“who I am in my head, very few people really get to see that. Almost none. It’s the most precious gift I can give, to bring her out of hiding. Maybe I’ve learned it’s a mistake to reveal her at all.”
― Claire Messud, The Woman Upstairs

“what I really want to shout, and want in big letters on that grave, too, is FUCK YOU ALL. Don’t all women feel the same? The only difference is how much we know we feel it, how in touch we are with our fury. We’re all furies, except the ones who are too damned foolish,”
― Claire Messud, The Woman Upstairs

“Above all, in my anger, I was sad. Isn’t that always the way, that at the heart of the fire is a frozen kernel of sorrow that the fire is trying—valiantly, fruitlessly—to eradicate.”
― Claire Messud, The Woman Upstairs

“I wanted him to reassure me, and when I saw he wasn’t going to, I thought, This is when the shit hits the fan.”
― Claire Messud, The Woman Upstairs