"Abbie Mackenzie was old Abbie Deal's maiden name. And because the first eight years of her life were interesting only to her family, we shall skip over them as lightly as Abbie herself used to skip a hoop on the high, crack-filled sidewalks in the little village of Chicago, which stood at the side of a lake where the bulrushes grew." Chapter 1, pg. 7

"Inside the box lay all the accouterments of another life. In its skin-covered depths was all the equipment of an entirely different world. They were symbols of things in life to come. They represented the future in which she would some day live." Chapter 2, pg. 21

"Suddenly she sat up, 'I hate God,' she said. Maggie Mackenzie hushed her quickly and told her it was tremendous wicked to say that
'But he made death. I hate death. I hate it.'" Chapter 3, pg. 29

"Ed Matthews...