" IT IS EARLY Sunday morning when Briar is finally able to extricate herself from the apartment, having showered and dressed herself in something that did not remind her of him. Her hair is still wet when she makes it out into the pouring rain outside of their building. The taxi driver is waiting for her at the end of the lane, but she pretends that it is an old friend who has come to rescue her from her darkness, so that any neighbours who might catch a glimpse of her will be unaware of her loneliness. "

― Steve Hamilton , A Scandal of the Particular