"It would have been different if they had been sons." page 2

"It was always Pei, with all her curious ways, whom Yu-sung worried about most." page 5

"Over the years, she had grown as silent as her husband." page 9

"There's a lot you will have to learn, little one." page 39

"'Just understand that you may think this is not a very good place, but its not a bad place, either. It's just another place for you to be right now.'" page 41

"Because I can offer you nothing more than a warm room and a cot to sleep on." page 43

"He wanted to say something of how he felt about the fish and the ponds, but he kept silent." page 49

"During the first year of learning the silk work, Pei realized there was very little time for memories." page 53

"The earth drank in all it could until every crevice...