Her mother was right: the arguments had stopped. She should be grateful for that, she knew she should. Yet, somehow, what the arguments had left behind was almost as bad, because it was silence. And in that silence, Tanya’s loneliness and anger grew and began their own ugly fight, becoming louder and louder until it was all she could hear.
-- Tanya (1: The Wishing Tree)

Importance: This quote shows the mental state Tanya is in at the beginning of the novel and how much her mother and father’s separation is affecting her. Most notably, it establishes early on how Tanya compares to other fairies, such as Thingy or Morghul, who are driven by their resentment. This is the starting point for Tanya’s character where she must decide whether she wants to stay angry at her mother, wish for her father to come back, or decide to forgive and move past her bitterness. This...