Epigraphs are like little appetizers to the great entrée of a story. They illuminate important aspects of the story, and they get us headed in the right direction.
Chapter 3
"Whose Child are you?"
"I am the daughter of patience and strength."
Chapter 5
"I washed my face with the velvet cloth of laughter."
Chapter 6
"I sat before the fire of a woman who kept her fingers on the pulse of the wind."
Chapter 7
"What did you taste in the kitchens of life?"
"Sometimes the wonderful red juice of the berry…
And sometimes the hull and peel of a bitter fruit."
Chapter 8
"I rode a chariot
in a corner of the wind."
Chapter 9
"This road is a wound
on the hard rock of my journey."
Chapter 12
"Lightning and thunder follow me around.
Where are my bridges?"
Chapter 15
"My song tamed fire; with my voice
I waded water."
Chapter 19
"In my private garden flows a foundation
of sparkling water. Come drink, you won't
ever be thirsty again."
Chapter 21
"I danced through smoldering canyons
overrun with briars, stickers,
and sharp stones."
Chapter 23
"I stayed long at her altar and stared
deep into her sanctified eyes."
Chapter 27
"Seven petals of honeysuckle I crushed
then bathed away the purple pain."
Chapter 28
"I am but a cinder in the snow.
Who could gaze at me long
and deny I passed through the fire?"
What’s up with the epigraph?
What is up with the epigraphs in this book? They show up only intermittently—appearing at the start of some chapter, but not others—and there's no single epigraph that starts off the whole book. More unusual, though, is the fact that they all seem to be made up, without being attributed to anyone fictional, either. What we have, then, are these invented quotations starting chapters without any additional context given.
This doesn't mean these epigraphs are just decoration, though. Every time one appears, it sets up the tone and/or highlights the key detail of the following chapter. They are clues to the most important thread in each case—be it Patience and Strong as Abby's parents in Chapter 3 or the demise of Lily Norene in Chapter 28—so pay attention to them and let them guide your attention to what matters most as you read along.