‘You know, it doesn’t matter how many people you lose, it never, ever gets any easier. It’s not something you can condition yourself against. You’d think it might be, wouldn’t you? But no. Each loss is unique and each has a new and distinct level of pain, like a layer of paint coming off that leaves you feeling a little raw, exposed.’

‘That’s the things with lies, darling; they are like wounds that never quite heal, the hurt goes too deep. It’s not only the thing that is said or done that rankles, it’s also the fact that the person lying to you thinks you are stupid enough to fall for it.’

‘She was just doing what she thought she had to. Figuring it out, like we all do, every day, working with what we have in front of us and hoping it all turns out all right in the end. It’s so easy when you can look back and point out where bad decisions were made or where you went wrong, but at the time, in the thick of it, you just have to make a choice and go with it.

‘. . . hate and recrimination are big things and if you let them fill you up it brings you the opposite of peace because if you hate it takes all of your energy– and that’s such a waste; how can you live life weighed down like that?’