Girl A QUOTES

1 " I’ll never ask you to pity him,’ she said. ‘Only to understand him.’
We sat as we often did, in deadlock, each of us waiting for the other person to speak.
‘I ask you,’ she said, ‘because I think that it might help you. "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

3 " Oliver, it transpired, was addicted to alcohol and cocaine, and Gabriel was addicted primarily to Oliver; then, as an inevitable accompaniment, to Oliver’s own addictions, at first for Oliver’s approval, and later – as tended to be the case – because he couldn’t stop doing them. "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

5 " He conjured a spotlight, which travelled down along the balcony, and rested on her face.
‘Your hair,’ he said. ‘All of the lights land in it.’
(All of the lights land in it: an excellent line. While I try to deny it, there were times – when I was younger – when this would have impressed me, too.)
‘Is this how you usually spend your Saturday nights?’ Mother asked.
‘No. Sometimes. I like the technology, you see. And I like to help out.’
Mother leaned against the railing alongside him. She let her hair fall against his arm.
‘I’ve never had company before,’ Father said, and smiled. ‘This makes things much more interesting.’
‘I’m not that interesting at all,’ Mother said. ‘I mean, I’m pretty boring. Actually.’
‘I don’t believe you. What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you?’
‘What?’
‘Tell me the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Nobody’s boring when they tell you the best thing that’s ever happened. Go.’
Mother thought of her princess dress, and the faces of the villagers watching the Harvest Festival. In her mind, they multiplied, so that she led the parade through a crowd of hundreds – thousands – of well-wishers.
‘Fine,’ she said. She knew exactly how she would tell it.
‘See,’ Father said, at the end. ‘That wasn’t boring. But it wasn’t the best thing that ever happened to you, either.’
‘It wasn’t?’
‘Of course not,’ Father said. He concentrated on the fuse box, passing it from one great palm to the other. He was smiling, close to laughter. ‘That’s tonight. "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

7 " and - though books cannot save you from everything - I hope that you are still reading. "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

9 " Girl A,’ she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anybody was going to make it, it was going to be you. "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

11 " Young, and nervous. I worried about every single thing that I said. You'll know what I mean, once you start work. Early on, one worries about every damn thing. "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

13 " days deadened by the drinks in the lounge, then waking up to the warm evening and a black car waiting "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

15 " I recognized that my parents were older, and that some of that was my fault. The unanswered messages. The phone call from Dr K, in the early, early morning. Weren't those the things that aged people, more than the fact of time? "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

17 " An intimidation of men passed, bare-chested, "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A

19 " Gabriel, "

― Abigail Dean , Girl A