Some of the words from the book:
p.444 of 506 'I am honored to be the vessel into which you pour this story of pain and strength'
p448 of 506 '[We]...laughed in her honor, recalling her delight in surprises, jokes, food, and all the pleasures of the flesh. I hoped that she would continue her enjoyment of these in the life to come, which she believed to be much like this world, only deathless and eternal'
p456 of 506 'I set aside my spinning and sat quietly, watching the water lap against the shore, my mind as calm and wordless as the surface of the river. I inhaled the loamy smell of the river and listened to the sound of the water on the hull, which was like a constant breeze.....the water soothes my heart and settles my thoughts, and it is true that I feel at home by the water, but I found my joy in dry hills'
p477 of 506 'Death is no enemy, but the foundation of gratitude, sympathy, and art. Of all life's pleasures, only love owes no debt to death.'
p478 'If you sit on the bank of a river, you see only a small part of its surface. And yet, the water before your eyes is proof of unknowable depths. My heart brims with thanks for the kindness you have shown me by sitting on the bank of this river, by visiting the echoes of my name.
The authors words when interviewed
p 481 Women's accomplishments, until the very recent past, have been 'written' on the bread they baked, the clothing they fashioned, the children they bore and reared. These are monuments that crumble into dust...
p483 I see my book as an expression of the spirit of our times