Sarah

“He was developing a theory about Cecily: The hardness of her outer shell was only to protect a very soft core.”
― Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers

“She moved her finger on the screen to the third row, the second man. Dark curly hair, a long slit of a mouth. Hair slicked and parted down the middle. A skinny, floppy bow tie.

What had been so special about hm? Fiona didn't know what she'd expected, but something more than this. Ranko Novak was worth seventy years of devotion. Ranko Novak was irreplaceable, a hole at the center of Nora's universe. And this was it? A face, two eyes, two ears.

Well, try telling that to someone in love.”
― Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers

“I sat there on the starched sheets holding my baby, and my mother held me, and I cried uncontrollably, because I finally understood how much she loved me, and I could hardly stand the grace of it.”
― Leslie Jamison, Splinters

“Being an adult meant watching many possible versions of yourself whittle into just one.”
― Leslie Jamison, Splinters