I wish I could've done more for her, but some sorrows were simply too individual to share. (p252) - Edwidge Danticat

My father is gone. I'm slouched in a cast-aluminum chair across from two men, one the manager of the hotel where we're staying and the other a policeman. They're both waiting for me to explain what's become of him, my father. (first lines)

It comes on again on her grandson's christening day. A lost moment, a blank spot, one that Carole does not know how to measure. She is there one second, then she is not. She knows exactly where she is, then she does not.

'It is the calm and silent waters that drown you...' (p172)