How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I love Rass Island, although for much of my life, I did not think I did, and it is a pure sorrow to me that, once my mother leaves, there will be no one left there with the name of Bradshaw. But there were only the two of us, my sister, Caroline, and me, and neither of us could stay. (P.6)
The Bradshaw family's roots run deep on Rass Island. This little lead-off helps us understand just how tough it is for Louise to leave Rass Island because the island is practically part of her family.
Quote #2
What my mother bore him was girls, twin girls. I was the elder by a few minutes. I always treasured the thought of those minutes. They represented the only time in my life when I was the center of everyone's attention. From the moment Caroline was born, she snatched it all for herself. (2.3)
Wow. Right from the start, the family dynamic starts to skew a little. Louise is the center of attention for a few minutes, and then Caroline comes on the scene and steals the spotlight. Typical Caroline.
Quote #3
When my mother and grandmother told the story of our births, it was mostly of how Caroline had refused to breathe. How the midwife smacked and prayed and cajoled the tiny chest to move. How the cry of joy went up at the first weak wail—"no louder than a kitten's mew."
"But where was I?" I once asked. "When everyone was working over Caroline, where was I?"
A cloud passed across my mother's eyes, and I knew that she could not remember. "In the basket," she said. "Grandma bathed you and dressed you and put you in the basket."
"Did you, Grandma?"
"How should I know?" she snapped. "It was a long time ago."
I felt cold all over, as though I was the newborn infant a second time, cast aside and forgotten. (2.4-9)
This is a pretty sad little story. Louise has always had to share with Caroline—even a womb—and now she has to share the story of her birth. She's a nobody, even to her own family. Grandma certainly can't be bothered with her.