In The Midst Of Winter Quotes
"At the end of December 2015 winter had not yet reached Brooklyn."
"Blessed with the stoic character of her people, accustomed as they are to earthquakes, floods, occasional tsunamis, and political cataclysms, she grew worried if no disaster occurred within a given length of time."
"In Lucia’s Brooklyn cave, largely below street level and with poor heating, snow was a nightmare."
"The storm began on Friday with a heavy snowfall followed by a fierce squall that lashed the nearly deserted streets."
"Lucia took advantage of that day’s unexpected freedom to prepare a life-restoring cazuela, a Chilean soup that lifts downhearted spirits and sick bodies."
"That loneliness, which in the past used to arrive unannounced like an unwelcome visitor, had now been relegated to a distant corner of her mind."
"Her desire to get the most out of life grew greater as her future shrank."
"Men around her age wanted women who were twenty or thirty years younger, which was understandable since she herself would not want to get together with an ailing old man and preferred a younger Romeo."
"Lucia had known Richard for more than ten years, while she was still married, and had been attracted to him ever since she met him, although she could not have clearly said why."
"Lucia still entertained the fantasies of a young girl despite the fact that she was almost sixty-two."
"The lack of a father leaves a hole in a woman’s heart, Lucia. A girl needs to feel she is protected; she needs masculine energy to develop trust in men and later to be able to give herself in love."
"Life refuses to leave us in peace. Sooner or later it catches up with us."
"You never ask people in need who they are or where they’ve come from, Richard. We’re all the same in misfortune."
"I always thought that story about turning the other cheek was stupid. It only means you get a second slap."
"I’m not going anywhere until I know what’s happened to my son, Enrique."
"It's a pity you’re a priest, Benito. Such a good-looking man staying celibate is a real waste."
"Order is an art rational beings possess, a ceaseless battle against centrifugal force, because the natural dynamic of all living things is to expand, multiply, and end in chaos."
"Remember that. And don’t forget that your brothers are with the spirits and are not suffering."
"As soon as he was old enough, his father took him to France to visit two families that had kept him hidden from the Nazis, and to Spain to thank those who helped him survive and to cross into Portugal."
"The way you examine every single action, past and present, is twisted. The sin of pride. You’re not that important. You have to forgive yourself once and for all, just like Anita and Bibi have forgiven you."
"People and cars don’t just disappear, Lucia. There’s likely to be a police investigation."
"I’ll leave them food and water. They’re used to being left alone for a few days."
"If that happens, my neighbor will come and look after the cats."
"Richard flung his hands in the air. He found it hard to understand how anyone could be so dependent on animals."
"This was the last thing she would have imagined; she’d assumed that like all the other men in her life, he was unable even to hammer a nail in the wall."
"Richard studied the broken lock on the trunk for several minutes while Lucia protected him from the falling snow under a black umbrella."
"The two cars soon left the highway and traveled a couple of miles down a rural road."
"Richard on the other hand could feel the threatening peck of his ulcer, a frightened bird inside his stomach."
"The panorama was unchanging: time went by on the car’s clock, the miles mounted, but he was not getting anywhere."
"The riverbank was so close they could hear the conversation between a pair of patrolmen standing guard next to a vehicle with a powerful light aimed directly at their hiding place."
"There were only a few hours of darkness left, but they stretched out interminably."
"The night was one long torment for Evelyn, until finally the first light of day came."
"As the sky lightened, she plucked up her courage to explore around her."
"She was so stiff she found it hard to get to her feet and walk a couple of steps."
"Although she felt hungry and thirsty, at least her shoulder no longer hurt."
"The night had been silent, interrupted only by warnings from loudspeakers in the distance."
"At dawn the land awoke in a buzzing of insects, the crackle of twigs beneath the tiny paws of rodents."
"Her mind filled with the stories passed by word of mouth among migrants."
"The sun climbed in the sky, burning the land with a dry heat like hot coals."
"She was so thirsty that she no longer felt hungry."
"She scraped a hole in the ground among some bushes, using a stick she found to scare off the snakes."
"She drove the stick into the ground so that its moving shadow could show her the passage of time."
"She heard vehicles going by at regular intervals, as well as low-flying helicopters."
"The afternoon passed slowly by without any drop in temperature."
"A long, thick, black snake crawled over her leg in a ghastly caress."
"By now Evelyn was exhausted. She no longer cared about snakes, bats, armed guards, or nightmarish monsters."
"Curled up on the ground, she gave in to despair and solitude, wishing only to die soon, in her sleep."
"EVELYN DID NOT DIE ON THAT SECOND NIGHT on US territory as she had feared."
"She was dehydrated and it took her several attempts to stretch her legs, get to her feet, put her sore arm in the sling."
"She had to find water. She could not focus her eyes or think properly."
"Driven on by thirst and anxiety, she set off aimlessly, leaning on the same stick that had previously served as a sundial."
"Thorns scratched her face and neck. A branch tore her T-shirt and jagged stones cut her hands and knees."
"She cried out and waded into the water up to her waist, drinking desperately from her cupped hands."
"The cold water trickled inside her like a blessing."
"She drank mouthful after mouthful, oblivious to the dirt and the dead animals floating in these waters."
"After being detained, Evelyn was interviewed by a female immigration officer in a small cubicle."
"Faced with the girl’s stubborn refusal to speak, the official at first thought perhaps she spoke only Mayan."
"In clear handwriting, Evelyn wrote her name, those of her village and country, her mother’s name, and a telephone number."
"This makes things much easier. We’ll call your mother so that she can come and get you. You’ll be allowed to go with her temporarily until a judge decides on your case."
"Evelyn spent three days in the detention center, without speaking to anyone."
"GALILEO LEON HAD BEEN BORN in Nicaragua. At eighteen he had immigrated illegally to the United States."
"Their first stop was at a Walmart to buy Evelyn clothes and toiletries."
"Did no one ever teach you to say thank you?" asked her stepfather, more out of curiosity than as a reproach.
"Are you scared of me or something? I’m no ogre."
"Okay, I see. Sorry," Galileo interrupted her. "If you can’t even talk Spanish properly, I don’t know how you’ll manage in English. What a mess! What are we going to do with you?"
"I’m going out for a smoke, and by the time I get back I want to see you asleep," he said.
"They spent the night in a motel for truckers next to the highway."
"Why didn’t the girl’s mother come to fetch her?" the duty officer asked Galileo Leon.
"We’re going to hand over the girl to you under presumption of credible fear. Do you understand what that means?"
"The judge will have to decide if the reasons why the girl left her country are valid. Evelyn will need to prove a specific, concrete danger, for example that she was attacked or had been threatened."
"The system is rather slow because there are so many children seeking asylum. The reality is that not even half of them get to see a counselor, but if they do, it is free."
"The room was filthy but had a hot shower. Galileo told her to get washed, say her prayers, and go to sleep in the bed on the left."
"She showered rapidly, then crept into bed fully dressed and wearing her sneakers."
"She knew her grandma would have gone to the church to light candles for her."
"The blue reflection of a neon sign with the motel’s name shone in through the net curtains."
"By the time he eventually climbed into bed, Evelyn was sound asleep."
"They left the motel at nine with only a coffee inside them."
"Drive slowly, Lucia. You saw what can happen if the car skids," said Richard.
"Richard had taken four antacid tablets. The taste of bile remained in his mouth and his stomach was still burning."
"We have to get help. There must be a hospital somewhere near here," said Lucia, handing him a tissue and a bottle of water.
"For the first time, he found himself without funds; the rest of Anita’s savings had gone to pay the clinic."
"His unkempt appearance scared off his English pupils, who quickly stopped coming."
"She thought that Richard’s tragedies were the result of a curse and that usually this was contagious."
"His life was not a succession of separate moments, it was a tangled story, a changing, chaotic, and imperfect tapestry he had woven day by day."
"They did not see much of each other over the following years, but their mutual affection was safely stored in their memories."
"The chance to teach at New York University did not come up twice, and so he needed to make the most of it."
"Horacio had to send him the money for the airfare to New York."
"She was sure she was doing what was best for her, quietly getting rid of almost all their possessions and packing up the rest."
"He knew how difficult it could be to judge the thickness of ice at a glance."
"Love has always been in half measures for me."
"The only cure for so much misfortune is love."
"It’s not the force of gravity that keeps the universe in balance, but the binding power of love."
"The experience of that year lost to illness gave her a burning desire to live, as if the reward for her suffering was to have discovered the philosopher’s stone."
"She had once dreamed of a professional career, had hopes of rescuing her marriage, and was proud of her physique and beauty."
"He wanted to protect her and make her happy so that she would never leave, for them to be together throughout that winter, then spring, summer, and forever."
"The entire universe opened up before him, and one thing led to another."
"She felt incapable of taking care of her son on her own."
"In the end, Miriam convinced herself that Evelyn was better off with the Leroys than with her own family in Chicago."
"In spite of the terror and loathing he inspired in her, Cheryl admitted he was attractive, with his good looks, his exclusive clothes, his air of authority and mystery."
"He thought they sounded like accomplices."