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41 " beyond the peculiar and glamorous world of Madam Lou Graham and the red-light district was a revelation and a question. Why did frontier cities in the West have the most successful suffrage campaigns while also being hotbeds for vice? It’s a challenging, mind-bending question. "
― Jamie Ford , Love and Other Consolation Prizes
42 " There are people in our lives whom we love, and lose, and forever long for. They orbit our hearts like Halley’s Comet, crossing into our universe only once, or if we’re lucky, twice in a lifetime. And when they do, they affect our gravity.” He said, “You know what I mean? These people are special. "
43 " the AYP was starkly different in that there was an undeniable aspect of exploitation that boggles the mind by today’s standards. The AYP sensationalized humans—Igorrote villagers—whose attire drew the ire of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. The WCTU asked Reverend Mark Matthews, a Presbyterian minister known for his moral crusades, to look into the matter. The concern was not that there were fifty villagers being exploited for their strange ethnicity, but that their loincloths might be inauthentic, designed for titillation. "
44 " Parents always have a story that their children don’t really know,” Ernest said. “I guess this is mine. "
45 " But what I am certain of is that all of this happened during the tail end of the orphan train era, when children were given away with aplomb. And while it’s clear that a baby boy was offered as a prize at the AYP, it’s likely that no one claimed him, and his subsequent fate is unknown. And I like the unknown. That’s when I decided to write this story. "
46 " There are people in our lives whom we love, and lose, and forever long for. They orbit our hearts like Halley’s Comet, crossing into our universe only once, or if we’re lucky, twice in a lifetime. And when they do, they affect our gravity.” He said, “You know what I mean? "
47 " These people are special. "
48 " My theory,” Maisie said, “is that the best, worst, happiest, saddest, scariest, and most memorable moments are all connected. Those are the important times, good and bad. The rest is just filler.” She pointed to the balloon. “The rest is nothing but hot air. "