How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Is this aunt as peculiar as all the others?" was all she said. Mo had already taken her to visit various relations. Both he and Meggie's mother had large families whose homes, so far as Meggie could see, were scattered over half of Europe. (2.12)
The way Meggie thinks about her extended family, it's almost as though they've been scattered like dandelion puffs by the wind across a whole continent. This could either mean that they're adventurous folks who like living in different places, or that they don't play nice with others (once we meet Elinor, we tend toward the latter explanation). Still though, family is family, and you gotta be nice and visit them from time to time.
Quote #2
"I'd do anything for a good bookbinder, and anyway you're my niece's husband. I really do miss her sometimes, you know. I expect you feel the same. Your daughter seems to be getting along all right without her, though." (5.6)
Oh, Elinor, you're so blunt. Of course she's willing to help out Mo, because he's such a fabulous bookbinder… oh, right, and they're related by marriage too. Mustn't forget that last bit. Elinor also puts her foot in her mouth and says that Meggie seems to be doing fine without her mom—though Mo, obviously, is not doing so great without his wife, but that doesn't seem to occur to Elinor.
Quote #3
"Pigheaded, isn't she?" remarked Elinor. "It almost makes me like her! Her mother was just the same, I remember." (5.13)
Like mother, like daughter… or so Elinor seems to think. Stubbornness does indeed seem like something one can inherit from a parent. Meggie wouldn't know, of course, since her mom vanished when she was three years old, back before she was able to remember very much of her.