"I am a forty-one-year-old woman living by myself in the same one-bedroom flat where I have always lived, in a derelict building on the outskirts of Beijing that is threatened to be demolished by government-backed real estate developers." Kindness: Chapter 1, pg. 6

"I wondered if other girls, for different misdemeanors, were kept hostage at odd hours in this room and informed of the love history of Lieutenant Wei." Kindness: Chapter 6, pg. 34

"The girl, unlike most people photographed for fashion magazines, was not beautiful." A Man Like Him, pg. 59

"Nor am I who you think I am, he thought of protesting, but why should he, when he had long ago made the decision not to defend himself against this ridiculous world?" A Man Like Him, pg. 70

"Yilan found it hard to argue against the plan, because she had never disagreed with Luo in their marriage." Prison, pg. 77

"Even as she...