In the Scriptures and the stories, in the stained-glass windows of the cathedral or the paintings that hung from its stone walls, the angels always looked like Leah: golden-haired and blue-eyed, dressed in fine silks and satins, with full cheeks and skin as pale as river pearls. As for the girls like Immanuelle—the ones from the Outskirts, with dark skin and raven-black curls, cheekbones as keen as cut stone—well, the Scriptures never mentioned them at all. There were no statues or paintings rendered in their likeness, no poems or stories penned in their honor. They went unmentioned, unseen.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: Immanuelle exists as an outsider in her community because of her looks and her heritage. This quote is important because it sets Immanuelle apart from the rest of the people in Bethel.

Leah was bound to the Prophet, and had been since the day he first laid eyes on her...
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)