There are times in one's life when a good book—the right book—feels like a voice speaking in the darkness,reaching out from the past;providing solace when all else seems lost.

It's really not that hard to put food on the table if that's what you decide to do.

Of all the Fairy strangeness she had known, this seemed suddenly both the strangest and least strange of all. How she would have liked to be looked after like that, cared for and watched over. And yet at the same time, she understood the Whelk, and wished she could grow big enough to hold on to everyone she loved at once. To keep them safe and with her always and know their secret needs well enough to answer them.