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“The truth is, you never do as much good as you could.”

“Suspicion and belief can’t share the same bed.”

“I will keep [the] lessons close to my heart, but never in it.”

“there’s nothing stronger than a woman who’s risen from the ashes of some fire a man set”

“Even the man who loves you, who’s dedicated his entire life to raising you up into something powerful, that man will underestimate the hell out of you just because you’re a woman. And the man who hates you? Who’s scared of you deep down in places he’ll never acknowledge? That man will work even harder to dismiss you.”

“there are pretty lies or hard truths and little room between for a woman like me.”

“the house never stayed occupied for long. I don’t really think she’s haunting it, but when you walk through the rooms, there’s something unsettling in the air. Maybe it’s true that some places, they just hold the pain that came before.”

“‘He is mine!’… Those words mean more than I love him or I want him. They mean things like I’ll kill for him and I’ll die for him, because of him, with him.”

“he’s not exactly fired up when it comes to taking care of women. Most men aren’t. Which is why we do what we do… your people, they’ll make sad faces if they hear a woman’s being beat by her husband, but they’ll say it’s none of our business. Women come to me… because they know [I’ll] make it my business. And I intend to keep on making it my business because I’ve got enough power to share.”

“‘True and right aren’t always the same thing’.’
‘I think deciding that’s His job.’ I point at the ceiling. ‘Not ours.’”

“it’s a confession, spoken to me instead of God… she knows I won’t judge her. She fears He will.”

“God forgives. At least we hope.”

“There’s a line a mother crosses where she loses the title. When it becomes just a word instead of a bond”

“I can do this… Be nice. Comforting.
The feeling fits like a too-small T-shirt, cutting into me in all the wrong places.”

“It’s that bitter laugh that all women understand. The one that’s born out of years of fear, of waiting, of what-iffing, until it finally happens. Some man takes his anger out on you”

“This isn’t about freedom.
This is about power. Everything is.”

“He gives, thinking it’s the start.
I take, knowing it’s the end.”

“Daddy handles me differently because I’m a girl. He’d never admit it, but proud as he is, he underestimates me. Mo says he can’t help it. That it’s the way fathers are.
Sometimes I think it’s just the way men are.
It used to annoy me. But then I realized it was a weakness.
And I’ve been taught to exploit weaknesses.”

“I speed up. He follows.
All he ever does is chase. And all i ever do is run… but thinking about home always brings me back to him”

“Sometimes you’ve got to save people from themselves. Even if they don’t want it or know it”

“She’d been wild, searching for the kind of free most girls never even touch”

“I realize I’ve just scraped the surface. Of the evil in the world. Of the good.
Of the strength in every woman.”

“‘Hell is what’s waiting for you,’ he says, like it’s some sort of condemnation…
‘Any heaven that lets in men like you, I don’t want anything to do with’”

“Jayden looks down at the money, and I know the private war going on inside her. You’re not supposed to take too much charity. You’re supposed to hold your head high. Stay proud.
It’s bullshit, those lines our parents fed us.
You survive. Any way you can”

“I’d asked her once, what had drawn her to work at the Ruby, and she’d raised her eyebrow and asked me if she needed a tragic backstory to do the right thing. I’d turned red at being called out and apologized, because it was where my mind had gone”

“The Ruby had belonged to Momma, and it’s the one safe place in North County where a woman can go if she’s in trouble. Momma had a soft heart for strays. That’s the way people always put it, with this rueful smile. Like she was silly for caring. Like what she… did wasn’t fierce, protective, womanly instinct”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready… If I’ll ever be able to harden my heart enough for it not to break when I see bruises [on] throats… wrists, on tiny rib cages that haven’t finished growing… I start to wonder if maybe hardness isn’t the answer. Maybe the horror, fresh and present with each woman… bruise and tear, is what I should feel. Maybe hardening a heart is the problem. Not the solution”

“it’s wonderful, not to know anything without dreading the feeling”

“‘you were the type of girl who didn’t let anything stand in the way of loving someone… it’s a good thing… being able to love someone that much. It makes you brave.’”

“‘She keeps acting like things are going to go back to normal.’
‘Well, that’s stupid… Things are different. But it doesn’t mean they have to be awful’”