Beverly Ng

“The only thing that gave him away as a man on trial, rather than as a man on his way to work, were his poor fingers. He'd chewed his nails down to the soft meat and started in on his cuticles. Sweet Roy. The only thing my good man ever hurt were his own hands.”
― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

“Neither of us would ever enjoy the perfect peace of nothing. After the clock by the bed flashed midnight and Christmas was over, I felt my wife nibbling kisses across my shoulders. I smelled unhappiness on her breath, but she continued caressing me, saying my name in a mournful whisper.”
― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

“FOR NORMAL PEOPLE, TALKING ABOUT THE LOST WOULD PUT OUT THE FIRE, BUT FOR ME IT WAS LIKE KEROSENE, GASOLINE AND A BLAST OF PURE OXYGEN”
― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

“Sometimes it's exhausting for me to simply walk into the house. I try and calm myself, remember that I've lived alone before. Sleeping by myself didn't kill me then and will not kill me now. But this what loss has taught me of love. Our house isn't simply empty, our home has been emptied. Love makes a place in your life, it makes a place for itself in your bed. Invisibly, it makes a place in your body, rerouting all your blood vessels, throbbing right alongside your heart. When it's gone, nothing is whole again.”
― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage