“The thing about getting older is that you don't need everything to be possible any more, you just need things to be certain.”

“The thought of writing was always pleasant, but the process was painful”

“while she wanted to look neither to her past nor her future, she lived exclusively in both. They had took different paths, but they had journeyed, so she realized, together.”

“If you think you are powerless, then you are”

“All the while, when Nazneen turned to her prayers and tried to empty her mind and accept each new thing with grace or indifference, Chanu worked his own method. He was looking for the same essentia...”

“He still smelled of limes. It made saliva come into her mouth. It made her feel that before she had been sleepy, and now she was awake.”

“I hate Bangladesh, because it tortures my motherland.”

“The years of disillusion, the long debate of who-belongs-to-who, gathered at the mighty feet of the Bangladesh Liberation War like flood waters rising, gathering thick weeds and crusty dirt and pul...”

“In 35 years, 50 percent of our population will live in our cities. Most other countries will be in a similar situation. We need to start preparing now to ensure everyone has the opportunity to live...”

“To walk through unknown streets in cities where you are merely learning the language is to force yourself into a new state of hypervigilance. You are a traveler, and hopefully not just a tourist, a...”

“We who are residing in a foreign country, away from the immediate scene of action, perhaps can feel more deeply than those at home the evil effects of the present distracted condition of our country.”

“Of course no one accused the old woman of being a witch. But she was foreign. Her words percolated up the tunnel of her throat , espresso-thick and strong. Bad weather had eroded her face. Some bel...”

“Getting my legal situation fixed takes a bit longer than we all thought: twelve years to be exact. Not a big deal. Only most of my life.”

“For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.”

“Also for there had been more than a few migrants aboard, yes, quite a quantity of wives who had been grilled by reasonable, doing-their-job officials about the length of and distinguishing moles u...”