Is there a quote or section of the book that had special meaning for you? Why do you think it resonated?
There is a specific quote that resonated with me. Itās after a conversation between Joe and Mae after his accident. Mae in her down to earth way tells Joe to grow up, that heās not the only one in pain. After Joe reflects, ā Wisdom is earned, Iāve heard said, and for the most part, I believe that to be true. But Mae, she had it from the get-go. Her wisdom wasnāt bound up in fancy words or written down in books. There was nothing elegant about itā¦But it made a difference.ā Iāve been fortunate to encounter a few Maeās in my life. I refer to them as touch stones.
5 Likes
Actually, I highlighted quite a few:
NORMA: āSome people, I have learned, are meant to read great works and others are meant to write them. Often, these are not the same people.ā
Resonates with me because Iāve always wanted to write but I have no imagination.
NORMA: āMarriage is a funny thing. There are so many people in the world, and you decide to commit the rest of your life, the rest of your emotional energy, to just one. You assume that the mysterious connection that ties you to one another will hold. A connection that canāt be trusted, one that probably manifests in that same mystical space where stories come from.ā
Resonates with me because I met my husband when I was 15 years old. I dated him for four years and we have been married for 57 years. Iāve been trying to escape my marriage for half my life.
NORMA: āSomewhere in the echo of time, the universe had decided that happiness of a certain kind was not to be mine. I would have to find joy elsewhere.ā
Resonates with me because every time I have tried to leave my marriage, everyone asks why I ācanāt just be happy and bloom where Iām planted.ā
NORMA: āI could always find comfort in my own company. Alice told me this is a strength that many people donāt have. The need for conformity and for the attention of others can lead to a life of misery.ā
Resonates with me because I believe this to be true.
4 Likes
Like @Carmel_Boulanger , I had highlighted āDid I get lonely? Of course, but those bouts of loneliness passed quickly, and I could always find comfort in my own company. Alice told me this is a strength that many people donāt have. The need for conformity and for the attention of others can lead to a life of misery.ā
It resonated with me because while often lonely, I can usually find comfort in my own company ā especially in the company of books.
3 Likes
I lingered over āTHE DASH SADDENS ME. THE SIMPLICITY MISSES SO much. It doesnāt allow for all the downs that bring a person low or the joys that lift them up. All the bends and turns that make up a lifetime are flattened and erased. The dash on a tombstone is wholly inadequate. Everything around it is more remarkable. The name, etched in cursive or dignified fonts. ā¦ Yet the dash, that line that carries the entire sum of a life within it, is unremarkable.ā
There is a poem The Dash by Linda Ellis that expresses the same sentiment.
3 Likes
I found a number of quotes that had meaning. One in particular āYou never know what your last words to someone are going to be, and itās hard to reconcile it when the deed is done and the person is gone.ā (P. 27)
That quote also ties in with the section about Joeās last words to Charlie and the memory/guilt that Joe lived with when he thought about how things might have been different had he used words of encouragement or love rather than words filled with anger. His reflection about how words are powerful, said or unsaid was so true, though I think the implication of unsaid words includes āthe lookā or gesture that accompanies the unsaid word.
2 Likes
The one that resonated with me was āAge brings all sorts of fearsā, from page 24. As we age, we are faced with different types of fears specific to that age and stage in our life.
1 Like
I am so sorry about your marriage. People who tell you to just suck it up do not have your best interests at heart.
I was waiting for my parents to die so I could divorce my husband. Finally I realized I didnāt want to waste so many years of my life being miserable and I left him twelve years ago. By the way, my mother is still alive!
1 Like
I read the book some time ago and donāt have a quote, but I was exultant when Ruthie (Norma) gave Aunt June no slack about telling her the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the kidnapping, the decades-long collusion, and even Aliceās knowledge of events. I remember actually cheering outloud as she held her āAuntā to account. It was at this juncture that Ruthie could begin piecing everything together toward the possibility of finding what was left of her Miākmaq family.
1 Like
āIt was good to witness nature doing what it does best, letting go, moving on.ā This sentence struck me with its profound statement about wisdom being found in nature!
1 Like
This was so beautifully articulated!
1 Like
That section of the book was certainly a highlight. It almost sounded too simple when I read Norma knew for decades that sheād been adopted. It would have been easy for Aunt June to leave it at that and let Norma believe it was a legal adoption. Aunt June said āYou werenāt really adopted, per se.ā the back and forth of emotions after that, especially with Norma telling Aunt June that she does a great job of keeping big secrets from the people she says she loves. Aunt Juneās response (I keep secrets for the people I love) to try and justify the secret made me pause and ponder: how often does love justify keeping a secret that was both a lie and illegal.
1 Like
After Norma learned from Aunt June that her whole life has been based on a crime (page 226), she bought a bottle of wine, an expensive bottle. While she sat at the table, she was picking at the threads of an old tablecloth, her mother had made years ago. āI sat and drank and pulled at the loose threads, until I found one that gave way and unravelled the whole thing, watching as the thread piled up on the floor, letting the truth of it all sink in and swallow me whole.ā I found this action liberated her and she was clear about her decision to become a teacher and not have children.
2 Likes
On page 227, Alice once said that anger and sadness are just two different sides of the same coin. (Norma said) Every time I started to feel angry, the coin flipped, and I cried.
I thought it was a very insightful way to look at circumstances/life. That line resonated with me long after I finished reading the book. It challenged me to think differently about Normaās life and how she dealt with the truth.