" Annie, do you believe in god?” “Of course not,” she answers. “Do you?” “No. No, not really.” She looks at me. “But a little bit?” “It’s not that I believe in god,” I say, struggling to find the next hold. I speak quietly, not letting the words carry beyond our two bodies. “It’s that I wanted to. I grew up in the benignant arms of the Church of England, but it wasn’t the bland ritual that tempted me ever, it was the notion that there was something beyond humanity, a purpose and a meaning greater than . . .” I stop, embarrassed by this bit of arrogance from my adolescent self. "

― Emily Foster , How Not to Let Go (Belhaven, #2)