Suzan Lemont

“Grief, Yui had once told him, is something you ingest every day, like a sandwich cut into small pieces, gently chewed and then calmly swallowed. Digestion was slow.

And so, Takeshi thought, joy must work the same way.”
― Laura Imai Messina, The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

“Yui developed her own theory: that for some people, life started loosening their joints when they were still in the cradle, and they had to work hard to hold the pieces together. She imagined those people juggling a bundle of limbs, ears, feet, and kidneys in their arms, like parts of the game Operation. But then, at some point, something would slot into place: they'd fall in love, start a family, get a well-paid job, a nice career, and they would begin to feel more stable. The truth was, though, they were just giving out parts of themselves to relatives and trusted friends; they were learning that it was normal not to be able to cope on your own, and that asking people for help was the only way forward if there were other things they wanted to do with their lives. They had to depend on others.

And then? Then what would happen? That's where Yui believed luck came into it. Because if those people lost someone who had been looking after a fundamental piece of them, they would never be able to regain their balance. The harmony would be gone, along with their loved one.”
― Laura Imai Messina, The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

“Anyone who has experienced great grief wonders at some point which is more difficult, learning or unlearning. There was a time when Yui wouldn't have been able to say, but now she was sure it was the second.”
― Laura Imai Messina, The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

“There was no addition or subtraction in life that did not require some time for adjustment.”
― Laura Imai Messina, The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World