The Victory Garden Quotes
"Who would have thought that you, who shrieked at seeing a mouse in our dormitory, would have turned out to be so fearless?"
"It’s just that I find my own life here in the countryside so sadly lacking compared to the excitement and danger that you face daily."
"Remember that song about ‘only a bird in a gilded cage’? That is me."
"My parents still keep a tight rein on me, and in spite of my constant entreaties will not let me do anything more useful."
"How stupid it is that we are raised to keep our feelings to ourselves."
"I want to do my bit, so that Freddie’s death was somehow not in vain."
"You have to be pretty self-sufficient if you live like us."
"You’d be amazed how quickly one gets used to horrors."
"I’m their only remaining child, and this is the closest they’ll get to presenting me formally into society."
"I care about you, you know. I’m not going to give up without a fight."
"I want to gain some feeling of independence."
"My dear, you're looking very lovely tonight. Very grown-up suddenly."
"You can’t hang on to her forever, old thing."
"You should probably be careful what you say."
"What do you think you might like—a taste of everything?"
"We haven’t seen food like this since we left home."
"I’m not going to volunteer for overseas work, Mother."
"I’ve turned twenty-one. I can now make my own decisions."
"If I could really believe this was all arranged for my own good."
"I’m afraid I shall never look pale and delicate again."
"I’ll shove him in the next sack, so help me," Maureen muttered as he walked away.
"Talk about a baptism of fire." Mrs Anson looked almost grey with exertion.
"I’m working, Mummy," Emily said as she reached them and deposited the basket on the trestle table. "I can’t leave. I’m in charge of my girls."
"You have no right to interfere like this, Daddy," she said. "I’m over twenty-one, able to make my own decisions, and I’m staying on here. I’m needed."
"If that’s what you want. But I will not be bullied or dictated to. I’m not a child any more, and I’m prepared to make my own way and my own mistakes if necessary."
"Strings I chose to ignore," Emily said. "I made a commitment here. I’m not backing out of it, whatever my parents want."
"It doesn’t matter," he replied. "I only know that you’re the girl for me. I knew it the moment I spotted you peeking around the door of that hospital room."
"Absolutely perfect." She took a deep breath. "And what’s more, he asked me to marry him and I said yes."
"I’m so sorry," Emily said. "We went out on a boat, you see. And we didn’t know that rivers are tidal. We got stuck in the mud for hours in an awful thunderstorm, and by the time we made it back to Plymouth, I realized I would have no way of getting a ride to the farm."
"Alice and Daisy have nothing," Emily said. "They need to be needed."
"We're being housed in a cottage, Ruby," Emily said. "And we'll be estate workers—no different from farm workers, except no sheep."
"I wouldn’t mind marrying a country boy—if any of them come home, that is."
"I've a sister out there, and there's nothing for me in England once the war is over."
"My wife thanks the good Lord every day that I'm out of the house and not under her feet."
"You don’t know how people live there—like rats, all crammed together in dark little streets."
"I reckon that grass is going to need to be scythed before you can mow it," the old chauffeur said. "I doubt you young ladies have ever used a scythe!"
"And good of you, too, miss, if you don't mind my saying so. Girls of your class aren't meant to work in fields."
"I’m thinking of going to Canada," Mrs Anson said, making them all look at her in surprise. "I’ve a sister out there, and there’s nothing for me in England once the war is over."
"No matter," Miss Foster-Blake said. "As I said, we have had a request."
"You're the only man what's here?" Alice asked.
"It's very good of you, Mr Simpson," Emily said.
"I’d rather tell her myself, if you don’t mind."
"I have to think this through for myself. I’ll let you know what I decide."
"I don’t know anything except I will not give it up."
"You get them onions and cabbages in the ground and I’ll be happy as a sandboy."
"It’s just an excuse to get out of fighting. Something no doctor can detect during an examination."
"They say the war will be over soon, and we can all return to our normal lives."
"You could never have taken a chap like that seriously, never gone to live in Australia."
"I am not judging you. God knows you loved the young man."
"I enjoyed the camaraderie of the other women, and the feeling of accomplishment when we complete a task."
"I loved Robbie Kerr, and this child will be all I have left of him. I don’t care what it takes or what I have to do, but I am not going to give it up."
"I’m not letting you two be modern women if I can’t be one, too."
"Somehow or another, I’m going to make this work for me and my baby."
"I haven’t. I can’t go home any more. I’m going to have a baby."
"His Majesty’s government thanks you for your service."
"I enjoy your company. I’m tired of living on my own."
"Just don’t let it overwhelm you, you will get over it, you know."
"At this moment, you think you won’t, but you will. In time, you will be able to look back upon your beloved as a fond memory."
"I’d welcome the company. There is nothing more dreary than dining alone."
"I felt an absurd sense of achievement as I placed the bucket beneath it."
"My sewing abilities have not progressed beyond embroidery, and I wasn’t very good at that!"
"Today is July 11. I began to feel that I was meant to be here, meant to find this book."
"I have no choice... I am responsible for a child now, so I can’t give up or give in."
"It wasn’t my idea to dine with Lady Charlton... She’s starved for company, and I’m not saying no to a good meal."
"I’m looking forward to my nightly gin. But this place is looking better already. More homely, somehow."
"Surely many writers do not meet with success until they are older than you."
"It’s my own fault," she said out loud. "I should never have read her diary. Now I’ll never be able to get her out of my mind."
"Maybe the villagers are right and the cottage is cursed."
"Well, rest assured that I shall not turn you away in your hour of need."
"No, but she thinks wood does," Emily replied, grinning.
"I think it’s working already!" Maud exclaimed after a few minutes. "Not burning so much."
"She wants to be back with her own kind, doesn’t she? She’s had her fill of common folk like us."
"You do realize that this is tantamount to practising medicine without a licence—a criminal offence."
"I’ve felt the same since my Robbie was killed."
"I’ve known nothing for two years. I’ve been in a private hell."
"I’ve come to depend on you. I enjoy your company."
"I’m willing to give it a try. It might be nice to see the old place, my old room . . ."
"It hasn’t been easy for many of us," she retorted, feeling the colour rising in her cheeks. "Almost every woman in this village has lost a husband or son."
"I suppose it’s the right thing to do, to let her know that I’m still alive."
"We are all hurting. It’s somehow easier when we all band together."
"I can’t believe you said those things," Emily blurted out. "That was your grandson. He’d come from a prison camp. Did you see how thin and gaunt he looked?"
"But I can’t go back," she told herself. "I can never go back."
"I should go back," she told herself. "I am supposed to be there."
"I’ll try," she said. "But you know how serious this disease is, don’t you? I’m not a miracle worker, but I’ll do my best."
"I have no idea how much I should be using," she worried, "or whether too much is dangerous, but I suppose at this stage anything is worth trying."
"I think you’ll find that many marriages are matters of expediency rather than romance, my dear."
"You’ve given me the incentive to put in more hives," he said.
"It’s a bit austere for a little baby, isn’t it?"
"I’d miss you," Emily said. "You’re the big sister I never had."
"I do have a place where I belong after all."
"People say a lot of things about other people. They enjoy passing judgement to feel superior. But when it’s their own child... well, then it’s different, isn’t it?"
"I’ve already lost the man I love, my reputation, and now I’m about to lose my life."
"How could I? I’d just heard that they would have banished that girl forever. I assumed they’d say the same to me."
"You must come home right away. We can say you’re a war widow. Half the women in England are, these days."
"Murder, as you very well know, must demonstrate intent."
"If she is guilty of anything, it is of ignorance and naiveté in dealing with unfamiliar herbs."
"She lived!" Emily exclaimed, dancing around the kitchen and waving the letter in triumph. "Susan lived."
"All the same, Judge, if the old lady dies, then it would not be unreasonable to bring the charge of manslaughter."
"It was all meant to be," she thought, and a feeling of contentment swept through her.