Elise’s Reviews > Educated > Status Update

Only then did I understand where the shame had come from: […] It had come from having a father who shoved me toward the chomping blades of the shear, instead of pulling me away from them. It had had come from those moments on the floor, from knowing that Mother was in the next room, closing her eyes and ears to me and choosing, for that moment, not to be my mother at all.

“It has never occurred to you,” he said, “that you might have as much right to be here as anyone.” He waited for an explanation.
“I would enjoy serving the dinner,” I said, “more than eating it.”

The skill I was learning was a crucial one: the patience to read things I could not yet understand.