"It was mainly this, his careful voicing of loving things that kept her in this place of uncertainty about her children" (p. 23).

"Lizzie could see Reenie's face clearly now. She had the look. The look of a woman who is done fighting. The look of woman months after her children have been sold from her. The look of a slave who has decided it is better not to feel. All three of the women recognized what they saw on her face" (p. 53).

"Stories didn't get told unless they had to. Stories were for remembering, and none of the women wanted to tell how they had gotten there" (p. 55).

"They be all right. Just one of them thangs slave children got to go through. Different ways to learn they lessons. Your childrens got to learn theirs thisaway, that's all" (p. 134).

"Every slave got the survivor in him. You don't...