Lynn

“They were never interested in how I made my food, or the stories behind how I learned. Like how my mama would sing to her gravy to make it thicken, or how she showed me that bacon fat would make butter taste like a heaven no one had ever dreamed of. Or how cornmeal was better than flour because it had weight, and having weight is how you know your worth, so don't let anyone tell you different.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Other Birds

“Don’t hold on to old love so hard you forget to live. Old love isn’t the only love you’ll ever have.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Other Birds

“I had henna done once at a street fair outside the bookstore where I worked in high school," Zoey said. "Vines, all down my fingers, like that. Only not as pretty as yours."
"Vines symbolize perseverance," Charlotte said. "Flowers mean joy. The sun represents eternal love. And the moon, here, is the power of change." She pointed to her knee. "Birds are supposed to be messengers between heaven and earth." She indicated a peacock on the other knee. Birds had always been her favorite to draw. Then she touched a circle on her leg at the hem of her cutoffs. "This is a mandala. It represents the universe."
Zoey looked impressed. "I had no idea it all meant something."
Charlotte put her hands back in her pockets. "In all my years, I've never encountered something that doesn't mean anything.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Other Birds: A Novel

“Everything around her was suddenly stitched together by unseen threads, as thin as gossamer. She'd come here wanting to feel a connection, but she'd always thought that connection would be to her mother.
Instead, it was to these people.
And it felt more substantial, more real, than she could ever have dreamed.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, Other Birds