Ebba Simone’s Reviews > Family and Friends > Status Update

"In the scented night [they] take their late walk, arm in arm, sometimes hand in hand."

"It is only by practising the strictest discipline on herself that she manages to think well of everyone else. It is in order to avoid heartbreak that Mimi wills herself into accepting everything at face value. Thus Sofka is to her a mother whose love has never wavered, Alfred the brother whose noble self-sacrifice for his family has never been less than voluntary, Frederick a joy, and Betty an amusement."

"From her bedroom Mimi can hear their laughter : Dolly's and Alfred's. She can also hear the silence of Hal, and Sofka."

Brookner: "It has made her (...) unable to try again."
Ebba: Please, Mimi, try again!

"Oblivious to the indigo sky and the little twisted trees, Alfred strides on. In what glade, in what grove, can Alfred find peace?"

"Her beauty is still visible to those who never knew her earlier."

"His years of unimpeded hard work have put a great deal of money into the bank but brought no joy to him."

"He appreciates a show of good manners, even if the good manners are not there."