Florence Adler Swims Forever Quotes
"If she positioned herself just so, her body rose with the incoming tide, and for a brief moment, she felt weightless."
"Something you say because it sounds good but not because you actually expect an answer from anyone."
"Everything she’d ever learned about anything she had learned by keeping quiet and paying attention."
"It was always like this when her aunt returned home from college. It took time for Gussie to relearn Florence’s face and the amount of space she took up in a room."
"Sometimes, if Gussie asked sweetly, Florence would cross her legs at the ankles and pretend the two of them were merpeople."
"Gussie didn’t know about any of that. The sun porch was fine—no tinier, in actual fact, than her bedroom in her parents’ apartment."
"I wish we weren’t in the apartment," she allowed herself to say out loud, since her grandparents were yards away in their beach chairs."
"Esther could make no sense of the girl on the cot. That the girl was her daughter. That her daughter was not moving."
"Esther thought about waking Anna to remind her that she’d be more comfortable in a regular bed."
How often had Esther remarked to Joseph, "I can’t believe I’m old enough to have a married daughter" or "To think I’m a grandmother! How can this be?"
"Fannie tried to convince herself that Isaac had turned a corner, that his acquiescence was actually an expression of certitude."
"Fannie couldn’t let go of the story. She scanned the article. "It doesn’t seem like the doctor’s very optimistic."
"What Esther recalled about the story of Job was that his wife had gone crazy with grief over the loss of those children."
"Joseph could barely nod an acknowledgment. Some girl."
"Please do not disturb. Important Business."
"One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret, never to be told."
"Your arms and legs, they must always move."
"You remind me a great deal of your mother."
"The joke was that Kelly recruited contestants year-round."
"James Parker lived for playing pranks on the lifeguards."
"Irish Dan bragging that he could see the jitney drivers making change on the Avenue."
"Stuart hadn’t realized how much time they’d spent in the evenings simply unwinding their days."
"Florence’s death had been the biggest story of the summer, by far."
"‘I’ll kill anyone who breathes a word,’ said Irish Dan."
"Stuart understood that it would take time and effort to get to know these new guys."
"‘Morning, Mr. Williams.’ ‘Morning, Henry.’"
"Stuart’s great-grandfather had built the cottage in 1873."
"Stuart was neither well off nor rich, his father’s money came with too many strings attached."
"‘Children believe they can swim, so they do,’ said Stuart."
"‘I’m here,’ he said as he sat down, uninvited, in one of two leather club chairs."
"‘It’s high time you got off the beach.’"
"Anna arrived at the Knife and Fork Inn, the restaurant was already crowded."
"‘Anna, Eli Hirsch,’ said Joseph, pulling out a chair for Anna."
"‘You’re a lucky girl to have had your paperwork sail through the consulate so quickly.’"
"Anna thought of Joseph’s office, of the forlorn beach chair she’d seen in front of the fireplace."
"Anna’s least favorite part of learning to swim was sneaking back into the Adlers’ apartment."
"‘That’s why my parents don’t like you,’ Florence had said."
"Florence’s attentions went a long way toward pulling Anna out of her melancholy."
"Europeans, asleep in their beds, had to wait until morning to learn that the Channel had been conquered by a woman but, in Atlantic City and elsewhere in the United States, Ederle’s accomplishment made the evening radio programs."
"Within two weeks, Fannie was married and had moved into Isaac’s apartment. Esther told herself it couldn’t be helped—the slow dissolution of the girls’ relationship."
"Gussie and this new baby would also be seven years apart in age. Was it an unlucky number?"
"It wasn’t until she and Gussie were down the stairs, through the lobby, and out the hospital’s front doors that her breathing returned to normal."
"She wasn’t thrilled about Anna spending time with Stuart, and most certainly didn’t like the idea that he might be so quickly redirecting any affection he’d once had for Florence."
"Enough was enough. Esther grabbed Gussie’s hand and yanked her from the bed."
"Fannie, your sister drowned in early June."
"What was wrong with everyone? Florence, Isaac, her mother, even Gussie? It was as if no one cared what happened to her."
"You give your children every possible chance."
"At what point, she wondered, had he written to Inez and called off the engagement? Assuming, in fact, that he had been the one to call it off at all."
"Fannie reached for her water glass on the bedside table, and saw a folded piece of paper leaning against the glass."
"Fannie pulled her nightgown back down over her stomach. Her hands had gone numb, and she could barely feel the cloth of the gown beneath her fingertips."
"Joseph turned the car onto Light House Road. After a few minutes, the road started to rise up toward the light station and he downshifted."
"Joseph wondered if Florence had tagged along. Last summer, when she’d returned home from school, she’d scarcely ever been at the apartment."
"Joseph hadn’t thought further ahead than putting his eyes on the French steamship."
"Joseph’s real worry was that no amount of money would cut through the bureaucratic red tape, much of which had been imposed by the American government and not the Nazis."
"Once or twice, last summer, he’d seen Stuart and Florence taking the boat out, and Florence had always sat motionless at the front."
"Stuart watched as a storm took shape on the horizon. At the height of a busy Atlantic City summer, an overcast day came as a welcome relief to the members of the Beach Patrol."
"That’s a big question for so small a girl."
"It’s not particularly soft but it’ll do the trick."
"I think most women make some sacrifices for their own security, or the security of the people they love."
"I loved her, but I never said anything. And I don’t think she felt the same way."
"What do you think about getting out of here?"
"So, think about it for a second. Isn’t it strange that you haven’t heard a word from her?"
"Sometimes I worry, Fan. That I got so caught up with turning Florence into a champion swimmer, I forgot to ask what you wanted out of life."
"What if I married an American, it’s fairly straightforward."
"I think there are men who are not well suited for family life."
"I’ll give you a good reference," said Joseph. "Do something else."
"A few thousand." Now Joseph was dipping into his own savings, into money he might have used for Inez and Paul.
"The baby?" "Wait if you want. But I think it will make it harder."
"I’ll outline the agreement in my will. Make sure you’re taken care of."
"So, you’ll give it to her?" "At some point, all this lying has to end."
"She’s named her Ruby," said the doctor, quietly.
"There are advantages to marrying Stuart," said Anna. "They’ll see that."
"Will I?" Esther asked, looking Anna straight in the eyes. "Or will I just feel like Florence is really gone?"