Half A World Away Quotes
"It's like a good cry is like a safety valve: it releases the pressure before it builds up."
"I think a good cry is like a safety valve: it releases the pressure before it builds up."
"You never forget a love like that, no matter how long it's been."
"The past rarely stays buried for long. I’ve always found that things have a habit of coming to the fore."
"I felt so guilty about it. Absolutely awful. It was my job to keep him safe."
"I’ve always found that things have a habit of coming to the fore. Don’t give up hope."
"Despite my best efforts, however, sleep doesn’t come and, if the past few nights are anything to go by, won’t arrive for a good few hours more."
"I know she’s already got enough on her plate. But mostly it’s because I don’t feel ready to talk about it yet."
"I couldn’t help thinking he’s just not interested. That he doesn’t care. That all he wants is to leave the past in the past."
"As the only thing I can have any influence on is my present and my future, that is where I direct all my energies."
"My love for Kian is the engine that keeps me moving."
"It’s such a basic question. I felt quite odd not knowing."
"Sometimes you just have to make your own happiness."
"In the dark everything seems so much worse than it really is."
"We can all change if we really want to, you’ve just got to have the right motivation."
"Young people who have been in care are six times more likely to enter the criminal justice system."
"By the time I left Milread Road I was probably at my worst. I dropped out of college, got into all sorts of trouble, and wouldn’t listen to anyone."
"I woke up one day, in a strange flat in a part of London I’d never been to before, sick all down my front, with a bunch of people I didn’t remember meeting."
"This is my family. Their anecdotes, their shared jokes, their way of seeing the world, feel as much mine as they are Charlotte’s or Phillip’s."
"I’m still trying to make sense of everything I’ve just heard when I hear the sound of the front door opening."
"I know now’s not the time... but would you mind if we met up soon to talk through what you can remember?"
"The knowledge that I was to be a father, that there was to be another living, breathing part of me in the world, someone who shared my DNA, someone who would look and perhaps even behave like me, had a huge impact on me."
"I felt like I had a purpose, a job to do, and somewhere deep down I knew I could do it."
"I can’t believe Steve would treat his own flesh and blood like dirt."
"I don’t want to hear another word from you," Kerry barks, pointing to the empty sofa.
"There is no point going down this road, at least not yet, no point causing them unnecessary pain, at least while things between Kerry and me are at such an early stage."
"I’m trying to cut back on the rubbish and eat healthily at the minute."
"I don’t want to overwhelm him or scare him away."
"I just want a little more time. I just want things to be normal for a little while longer."
"I’ve always liked to keep an eye on my figure. Not that I’m into all those crazy diets... But I do like my clothes to look nice, so I watch what I eat."
"The minute he [the doctor] says this, I roll my eyes. That’s the problem with these young GPs: because they don’t know anything, they refer you to someone else at the drop of a hat."
"I can’t believe how pathetic he [Kian's father] is. I can’t believe I ever let him into my life."
"He gets me to lie down on the bed and has a bit of a feel and asks me a bunch of questions about my health and what I’ve been eating."
"I start collecting my stuff together but no sooner have I picked up my mop bucket than I hear Kian say something."
"It’s like being back at school and getting told off by the headmistress."
"I think he said you live like a pig, your kids are spoilt, and I’m pretty sure your husband’s having an affair."
"I’ve got to calm down. It’s no good getting hysterical... I can’t go to pieces, I’ve just got to focus on getting this sorted."
"I’ve asked you a question, Kian. Do you think money grows on trees?"
"What little solid ground that is left beneath my feet gives way completely. All that’s between me and the abyss below is thin air."
"Because it’s chemo and not surgery, because chances are I’ll be sick and weak and might even lose my hair, rather than just be laid up in bed for a few days, I’m going to have to tell Kian the truth."
"I want him to know, even though it might make me sick for a little while, this treatment is actually going to make me better."
"I shove everything back in the folder. I will tell him, but I’ll do it my way, using my words."
"‘Kian,’ I say, pausing the video, freezing some kid on the screen, not much older than he is, in mid-air. ‘I need to talk to you about something.’"
"‘I know you haven’t done anything, son,’ I reassure him. ‘You know better than that now.'"
"‘How am I going to sort this out? I’ll have to ring his teacher first thing in the morning and make sure she’s on top of it.'"
"But I promise you, the paramedic was really brilliant. He’s given me the once-over and he says I’m fine. I promise."
"‘You’re not the first one of me pickney to show up looking for me … but you’re the first one to turn up talking like you Prince Charles.'"
"That’s fantastic, I’ve always wanted another sister to balance out all the testosterone in this family."
"If you want my advice you’re best off counting your blessings and giving Stucky a wide berth."
"I could stand here people-watching all day but I feel guilty if I do it for too long."
"For a minute when I wake up, I’ve got no idea where I am, and it takes me a while to get my bearings."
"The one thing we don’t talk about is the cancer, because she knows I don’t want to think about it too much."
"It’s lovely to hear her voice and we chat for ages."
"I’m into green tea at the moment, after finding a box tucked away at the back of Noah’s cupboard."
"I remember the day I got the keys. I had a real picture in my head of what it could be like with a good scrub and a coat of paint."
"I was so chuffed when he told me that he wouldn’t have recognised the place."
"I make myself a cuppa. It tasted like grass cuttings to begin with but I quite like it now."
"I love living with Noah, and I know Kian does too, but I miss my little flat and I can’t wait to go back."
"I couldn’t afford to do all the things I wanted to do straight away, but bit by bit, month by month I made it better."
"I just tell her that I’m feeling good, and keeping positive, and I leave it at that."
"But any time I mention getting rid and putting them on eBay, he has a right strop."
"I’m so glad we’ve had this chance to have a proper catch-up."
"Hope that the treatment I’ve suffered through has done its job."
"‘I know what you’re going to say,’ she said. ‘You’re going to say that you want me to stay here.'"
"Just like that, I feel my heart swelling with gladness."
"For him. For love. For life. For everything."
"I’ll love you forever, you know,' she says, and then she finally lets me go."
"I have no idea who she is and I’m about to ask, when Kian exclaims, ‘It’s Mrs Ryman,' and then runs in to see her."
"I’d only seen it the day before, and I knew I had to act fast or it would be given to someone else."
"I couldn’t believe that the line between life and death was so flimsy, and all that separated the two was the space of a single breath."
"This moment couldn’t possibly be of greater contrast to the rawness and the sorrow of earlier in the day."
"Are you sure I won’t stay, Narinder? The caterers are just about to put out the food."
"I look at his messy hair and his shirt all untucked."
"But then he looks up and catches sight of me, and I can’t help it."
"I remember thinking to myself that I was really happy, and never wanted it to end."
"I don’t know about that,' I say, looking at Kian."
"‘But I do,’ I’d replied, conscious of the worry in her voice."
"‘Thanks for today, Mills,’ I say, sitting down next to her."
"I know, it’s news to me too. But I think yes, I did … I do."
"Don’t worry, Mum, EastEnders is on later if you get bored."
"This place is perfect, Noah, thanks so much for sorting it out."
"‘This can’t be happening,’ and the next were to tell Kerry that the consultant must be mistaken."
"‘I’m warning you, Kian,’ she says, making an effort to put on a stern face."
"It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to cry, or be angry, or to let out anything else that you’re feeling."
"‘I think we need to talk,’ I say. ‘About us, about the future, and about how sorry I am for the mess I’ve made of everything.'"
"‘I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been for you,’ she says. ‘Are you okay?’"