How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
What [Rose] remembered from the summer of her parents' death was the aching loneliness, the hollow sense of absence, as if a real physical space had been carved out beneath her ribs. And this hollowness was echoed by her footsteps on the shiny wooden floors of the empty house where the three of them had lived together. (21.41)
Like her husband, Rose is also haunted by memories of her parents, though in a much different way. Having lost them in an accident when she was not much older than Clara, it's pretty clear that the emptiness she felt at her daughter's age makes her fear the same fate for Clara. These painful memories are a huge part of her desire to see Clara's room and ensure that she really is okay.
Quote #8
This trip back to the old place hadn't worked, [Stan] thought miserably. The streets he'd walk in with his mum had the same names, and that was about it; there was nothing left to jog his memory, nothing left to bring back her face and the forgotten color of her eyes, which seemed so important for him to remember. (23.23)
Ever go back to a place that used to mean a lot to you, only to discover that it's not the same at all? Kind of hurts, doesn't it? Sometimes, revisiting the past can lead to answers. Often, though, it just makes you feel the loss that drove you there even more.
Quote #9
Sef herself had vanished, a long, long time ago. May could still remember the morning her friend had disappeared: how she'd woken and found Sef's bed empty beside hers, the blankets gone, the gray mattress with its pattern of black stripes quite bare. (25.8)
If you think Lily's has it rough without a dad, just think about May, who grew up in an orphanage and lost the only family she ever had when her friend Sef was adopted. While May's always had imaginary Sef by her side from that day forward, the discovery that her best friend was gone had to be a painful moment.