"My name is Kathy H. I'm thirty-one years old, and I've been a carer now for over eleven years. That sounds long enough, I know, but actually they want me to go on for another eight months, until the end of this year." Chapter 1, p. 3

"If for us the Gallery remained in a hazy realm, what was solid enough fact was Madame's turning up usually twice - sometimes three or four times - each year to select from our best work. We called her 'Madame' because she was French or Belgian - there was a dispute as to which - and that was what the guardians always called her." Chapter 3, p. 32

"The woods were at the top of the hill that rose behind Hailsham House. All we could see really was a dark fringe of trees, but I certainly wasn't the only one of my age to feel...