Maame Quotes
"I was raised to keep family matters private."
"Age is a terrifyingly inconsistent beast."
"You're not doing a lot, really, are you?"
"Don't you relax when you come home from work and on the weekends?"
"The truth is, it took a while for me to get comfortable around Dad, without Mum there as a buffer."
"I struggle to remain in office jobs for more than nine months at a time because there's no joy in it."
"You’re a good girl, Maddie, but staying home all the time to look after your father, it will make you resentful."
"You're too young and need to live your British life."
"You are burdened with guilt, but if your father understood what was happening around him, he would beg you to go, to live your life."
"Dad, although also Ghanaian, wasn’t the best husband and James and I grasped that early on."
"I didn’t like that the last time I was there my cousins made fun of my accent and called me a princess behind my back."
"I didn’t like that the girls had been carrying heavy bowls and buckets, evidently from birth, and when I offered to help, my arms were compared with the legs of a chicken."
"I couldn’t balance anything on my head; I couldn’t sweep the floors because I failed to fit the African broom end into my palm."
"How can you feel like you don’t belong in a country where everyone is like you?"
"I don’t know what will happen when Mum returns to Ghana, but I have a year at least, a year to find out what all the fuss is about."
"Being at the library for the majority of the day serves to avoid that."
"I was hoping to open my emails and find a job interview offer but instead I’m greeted with a single-line response from HR."
"I think the opposite of you, not that you’re not-innocent, but rather… experienced."
"You could probably do without the repeat."
"I wish I’d known this before I met Ben."
"It’s not always about what it feels like, Mads, because sometimes it feels pointless. It’s about what love is. Which is trust, commitment, empathy, and respect. It means really giving a shit about the other person."
"Some things you’re not meant to be saved from. Some things have to be lessons."
"I didn’t love him, not the way I was supposed to and I know that, but I loved feeling loved and wanted."
"What is the point of losing your virginity if not to fit in? It’s meant to go, like how puberty is meant to pass, like how you’re supposed to age. It has to happen, doesn’t it?"
"What matters most is actually being home on Dad’s birthday, right?"
"I’m not really here. I’m not really here. Everything is fine because I’m not really here."
"The receptionist smiles; she’s very pretty and I wonder if I could pull off that lipstick shade with my skin tone."
"I think about what Shu said about Ben’s lips and eyes and, suddenly, I can’t quite spot what I found attractive in him to begin with."
"Sorry. Well, no, I’m not sorry, but maybe I could have phrased that better."
"Pretty easily, because if I’m so great and you loved spending time with me, how has this happened?"
"Ben, it’s only a ‘card’ to people who think it’s a game."
"You just have to talk about him: the times you shared together and the things he did to make you smile."
"You never know who might catch me on the streets."
"Comparison is no friend of mental health."
"It’s not too late to be the person you want or were always meant to be."
"You made him feel safe, maybe—I don’t know."
"If you don’t get it now, after everything, will you ever?"
"Protect your peace in whatever and every way that you can."
"Life is different without him now; I wish I could say I was at peace, but the truth is that it’s difficult and I’m struggling."
"I tend to just take the minutes in meetings like that."
"Good for you." He seems to genuinely mean it.
"But we didn’t make much sense outside of … well."
"Ball’s officially in your court. Just think about it."
"I assume people meet me, I leave, and their world carries on like it did before I arrived."
"Your father was very fond of you. I’m sorry that he is no longer with us."
"You shouldn’t be so attached to this Earth’s material things. Matthew six, verse nineteen."
"I thought maybe I could donate some of the money to a Parkinson’s disease charity."
"You are fine. This is your new fine, Maddie."
"I don’t mean to say in intensity or duration, but they just can’t be compared."
"Thank you for getting in touch. I’m currently out of office and on annual leave."
"Do you often feel guilty for things that aren’t actually your fault?"
"I’d be happy for you to submit to me when this manuscript is ready."