"The harshness of the land and the flattening effect of wind and endless sky probably accounted for the relative tranquility of Mercer County. Life was simply too hard, and so much of you attention and energy went into keeping not only yourself but also your family, your crops, and your cattle alive, that nothing was left over for raising hell or making trouble." Chapter 1, Page 4

"And I loved her. Because she talked to me, cared for me ... Because she was older but not too old ... Because she was not as quiet and conventional as every other adult I knew... Because she was sexy, though my love for her was, as a twelve-year-old's love often is, chaste." Chapter 1, Page 14

"I wasn't sure which prospect was more unsettling: that she wouldn't tell me anything and would scold me for prying, or that she would reveal everything and I would have...