"He put the olive on my tongue, and as I closed my mouth around it, oily and warm with salt, I found myself flushing from the deliciousness but also the intimacy, his fork in my mouth. It was the most sensual thing that had happened to me in ages." (Chapter 3, p. 15).

"Fonnie was with me on the Pike that day [at the 1904 World's Fair], but she didn't want ice cream. She didn't want cotton candy or puffed wheat or iced tea or any of the other novel offerings either." (Chapter 4, p. 23).

"The clouds were low and terrible and the air was drenched and salty. I felt as if I was drowning the whole time, over and over again. And even when we made it back to shore that day, the feeling that I was still out in the bay, sinking deeper and deeper, stayed with me through the...