“Generally the men always tried to appear strong; they walked tall, heads upright, arms steady at the sides, and feet firmly planted like trees. Solid, Jericho walls of men. But when they went out i...”

“Running and chanting, the word change in the air like it's something you can grab and put in your mouth and sink your teeth into.”

“Because we were not in our country, we could not use our own languages, and so when we spoke our voices came out bruised.”

“I am starting to talk fast now, and I have to remember to slow down because when I get excited, I start to sound like myself and my American accent goes away.”

“this place doesn't look like my America”

“That's what you do in America: you smile at people you don't know and you smile at people you don't even like and you smile for no reason.”

“For every inch of skin, there is memory. Devils are so made. Saints, too, if you believe in them. His humanity has been broken as an old walking stick that once held up a crippled man named Thomas....”

“It frightens me that I can't do anything sensible about it.""Are you scared that you'll wind up with a boring job where you have to see the same people every day and drink instant coffee?""I'm more...”

“She'd be dead before the memories and pain were finally gone; she knew it, accepted it, and dealt with it.”