“Sometimes it made her want to put her fist through glass; other times, it made her cry a river.”

“all the time something within her was crying for a decision.
She wanted her life shaped now, immediately — and the decision must be made by some force — of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality — that was close at hand”

“Without hesitation, she made a fist and hit herself in the right eye, her knuckles making contact with the top of her cheekbone. And then she poured milk into her coffee.”

“The stuffing/puking/stuffing/puking/stuffing/puking didn't make her skinny, it made her cry.”

“She then gave her a pair of slippers made of glass, the prettiest in the world.”

“He was still as kind as he had always been, but there was a distance in his eyes now that made her want to cry.”

“When you were the son of evil, there was little you couldn't do, own, or kill, and yet her mortal self was an elusive trophy he could touch, but not put on his shelf.

This made her rare. This made her precious.

This made him… love her.”

“Love made her patient. It made her hopeful.”

“Ammu loved her children (of course), but their wide-eyed vulnerability and their willingness to love people who didn't really love them exasperated her and sometimes made her want to hurt them-- just as an education, a precaution.”

“In the pool halls, the hustlers and the losers
I used to watch 'em through the glass.
Well I'd stand outside at closing time
Just to watch her walk on past.
Unlike all the other ladies, she looked so young and sweet.
As she made her way alone down that empty street.
Down on Mainstreet.”