Suzette Stephens

“Women were still strange and inscrutable creatures. Men didn’t understand them. And women didn’t understand themselves either. It was always a performance of some sort. Everywhere you went, it was like there was a spotlight shining down on your head. You were on a stage when you were on the trolley. You were being judged and judged and judged. Every minute of your performance was supposed to be incredible and outstanding and sexy.
You were often only an ethical question away from being a prostitute.”
― Heather O'Neill, The Lonely Hearts Hotel

“A girl's desire is like a pretty butterfly. And a man's desire is like a butterfly net. His desire captures and kills her. He turns her into an object to be pinned on a corkboard. I don't think I'm interested in the tyranny of the couple. I'm more interested in what a person does when they're forced to be by themselves.”
― Heather O'Neill, The Lonely Hearts Hotel

“Those who have been in trouble themselves are alert to it in others”
― Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace

“To those out on their own paths, setting little fires”
― Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere