"It was a changeable house. Sometimes it felt safe as a church, and sometimes it shivered, then cracked apart." Chapter 1, p. 11

"Léonie was waiting for Thérèse to arrive. She longed for her, like a lover. Her mind bristled with knives. She imagined the edge of the blade, silvery and saw-toothed. Its tip vanishing into Thérèse's soft flesh." Chapter 2, p. 13

"She felt dizzy. As though Thérèse were already here and they were children again, playing the game of spinning on one spot with arms outstretched, seeing who could twirl longest and not fall." Chapter 2, p. 15

"Too much attachment to objects, she scolded herself. She had spent twenty years trying to practice detachment and she had failed. She'd discovered that as soon as she had re-entered the house.

My house, Thérèse corrected...