“There was only one way to the other side, and that was through the pain.”

“This time, there was no escape, I could not turn away, could not leave without accepting what I had done. There was only one way to the other side, and that was through the pain.”

“The open forgiveness in her eyes, the uncensored love, terrified me.”

“Nothing you could do would make me send you away. Nothing.”

“Hyacinth. Please forgive me.”

“Im talking about the language of flowers. Its from the Victorian era, like your name. If a man gave a young lady a bouquet of flowers, she would race home and try to decode it like a secret message...”

“Over time, we would learn each other, and I would learn to love her like a mother loves a daughter, imperfectly and without roots.”

“It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from.”

“It didn't matter that there was a war on our doorstep. She had things to do, places to be.”

“Stranger inside me, when you are born, I will give youa closed book and ask you never to read it, never rest, never forgive a man who wants to save you.”