The Key Quotes
"I wear it like a cloak. A great big heavy cloak that swamps me, a cloak I am unable to shrug off."
"I carry her in here every moment of every day."
"Constructed from the finest limestone, the facade appeared lavish, pretentious even."
"We all have bills to pay, but this book’s my passion."
"I’ll get some snowdrops, I think. They come out early, don’t they?"
"It’s so hard to imagine being with anyone else."
"You can’t take your eyes off these nutters for a second."
"You think we've got time for that? Just rinse them off and then hand them out."
"I’m sure he won’t mind giving up his slice of pie for his big sister."
"It’s back-breaking work, y’know, delivering coal, and he never stops all day."
"She ran her tongue over her lips, giving them a moist sheen before smiling at Ellen, revealing a perfect row of sparkling clean dentures."
"Never say no to a cup of tea and never pass up the chance to use the toilet."
"If early indications are anything to go by, that girl’s more than capable of handling herself."
"Anything remotely funny is seized upon, retold and no doubt exaggerated."
"I wasn’t a difficult child, Dr Lambourn, in spite of what you may think."
"They were in love. They always had been, ever since they were sixteen."
"I’m not sure I’d . . . I mean, yes, of course, Doctor."
"Stick to giving bed baths and enemas and leave the important stuff to actual doctors."
"Are you always this difficult, or do you sometimes have a day off?"
"She visits him every week, always brings a pear."
"How can it be right to torture a patient that way?"
"That’s all I can say. I can only speak as I find."
"The key to your freedom isn’t on a ring attached to Sister’s belt. It’s in here, in your own head."
"You intrigue me, Amy, and I think I can help you."
"For the first time in years she felt the spontaneous eruption of joy."
"He loves her deeply and I can see in her eyes that she feels the same way."
"She’s an evil, bitter woman who turned my father against me, but he was either too blind or too stupid to realise it."
"What he’s prepared to go through to make her happy, that’s true love, no mistake."
"It's perfectly fine, Carrie. The atmosphere in the hospital can be somewhat stifling, and I thought a more ambient setting would be beneficial to us both."
"You intrigue me, Amy. I like your character, your indomitable spirit, and I don't think you're evil."
"I'm twenty years old, Dr Lambourn, and do you know, I've never been kissed."
"I need to put my baby first, Dr Lambourn. Surely you can see that. She's all I have left now."
"It's all such a mess. I'm not ready to take her."
"You're a beautiful young woman; any man would be lucky to have you on his arm."
"Everybody she loved always left her one way or another."
"You haven’t been cured because there was nothing really wrong with you in the first place."
"The treatments you’ve had over the years – all the ECT, the insulin-coma stuff, the never-ending cocktail of drugs – were all about controlling you, not curing you."
"You’re doing very well. It’s taking rather a long time, but we’re nearly there now, just a couple more pushes and it will all be over."
"Let’s just say it’s a part of my life I would rather forget about."
"I don’t want to be involved, Sarah. Whatever it is, take it away."
"Can you do my French plait again? Daddy's not very good at them and it's all come loose."
"Well, he's quite good at cooking. My favourite is hoops on toast."
"It's the least I could do after you helped me out this morning."
"She talks about her mummy in heaven as though Lucy has just popped out to the shops."
"It's important to talk. Bottling stuff up never did anybody any good."
"You don't need to be involved, Dad, but I will be going to that address to find out what all this is about."
"Amy, please, I've travelled a long way, and—"
"You're too late, Dr Lambourn. About fifty years too late."
"God doesn’t think he’s a psychiatrist. I’ve never forgotten that."
"Our baby died, Dr Lambourn, and there’s nothing even you can do about that now. Your time for playing God is over."
"You’re going to be a father. Now get back in there and deal with it."
"I wish you were my mum, Sarah. You’d make a really great mother."
"You have to believe me when I say that if I’d known there was any chance you were carrying my baby, I would have stood by you, no question about that."
"She’s the mother of my child, Sarah. And I love her for that."
"I’m not a certified patient anymore, Dr Lambourn. And you cannot tell me what to do."
"It’s not what you’ve done that matters now. It’s what you do next."
"I wouldn’t have cared if I had died. I’d nothing left to live for anyway."
"You love your mum, don’t you? Well then, your relationship needs a hero, Adam. Is that going to be you?"
"The adventure’s over, Adam. It’s time to go home."
"It’s important to find a balance because that’s what we do in real life."
"I’ve loved him since I was five years old. I can’t lose him now."
"Holding on to all that bitterness, that regret, the anger – well, it’s like holding your breath. It ends up suffocating you. I had to let it go."
"I’m not married to the love of my life, my son has no idea I’m his mother, but it’s an ending of sorts."
"We lived in different times, Amy. I was a victim of the system too."
"I can’t bear to imagine what would’ve happened to him if he hadn’t met you."
"‘What’s the plan for tomorrow then, Stephen?’ Amy wrinkled her nose, still finding it odd calling him by his first name."
"I’d really like to be part of Joe’s life . . . if that’s all right with you, that is."
"I wasn’t mad, you know. I should never have been locked away like that."
"I don’t know what to say, Sarah, except thank you. Thank you for taking care of my boy and for bringing him back to me."
"You could’ve made me happy, you know. If there was one person who could have done that, it was you."