Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes:

Quote #1

“Her name is Rachel, and she was charming and gay, and they said she could have had her pick of any man in her father’s regiment. But instead she fell in love with a Puritan and ran away to America without her father’s blessing. She wrote to my mother from Wethersfield, and she has written a letter to me every year of my life.” (2.24)

Aunt Rachel is the only blood relation that Kit has left. This prompts her to journey to Connecticut.

Quote #2

“I don’t remember my parents at all,” she told him. “My father was born on the island and was sent to England to school. He met my mother there and brought her back to Barbados with him. They had only three years together. They were both drowned on a pleasure trip to Antigua, and Grandfather and I were left alone.”

“Where there no women to care for you?”

“Oh, slaves of course. I had a black nursemaid. But I never needed anyone but Grandfather. He was –” There were no words to explain Grandfather. (2.20-22)

Kit’s family consisted primarily of her grandfather. She was raised solely by him and her black nursemaid.

Quote #3

“My grandfather died four months ago,” Kit explained.

“Why, you poor child! All alone there on that island! Who did come with you, then?”

“I came alone.” (3.36-38)

It is important to note that Kit starts the novel alone. Her isolation on the island due to the loss of her grandfather is the reason that she journeys to Connecticut.