How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Three years ago my parents, college sweethearts, were happily married and raising me, their only child. (1.34)
From Mclean's perspective, everything was just fine and dandy with her parents' marriage and their home life. Maybe that's why her mom's betrayal—and the subsequent divorce—was such an awful shock to her.
Quote #2
Instead, her party line was one sentence: "What happens in a marriage is between the two people within it. Your father and I both love you very much. That will never change." (1.38)
Her mom may stick to her party line all the time, but it's not an adequate explanation for Mclean when it comes to figuring out why her mom would leave her family to go off with a basketball coach. Why would she want to start a new life?
Quote #3
Mclean's built all her ideas of romance and marriage by looking at her parents' example; after all, they pretty much have the perfect love story. But when it doesn't last, she's in a state of utter shock. How could they have been any more perfect for each other? When my parents' marriage first imploded, I was in a total state of shock. Maybe it was naïve, but I'd always thought they had the Great American Love Story. She was from a wealthy southern family that bred beauty queens, he the late, only child of an autoworker and the third-grade teacher. (2.3)
Mclean's built all her ideas of romance and marriage by looking at her parents' example; after all, they pretty much have the perfect love story. But when it doesn't last, she's in a state of utter shock. How could they have been any more perfect for each other?