I believe in ghosts. They're the ones who haunt us, the ones who have left us behind. Many times I have felt them around me, observing, witnessing, when no-one in the living world knew or cared what happened.
-- Vivian (Prologue paragraph 1)

Importance: These are the first words of the novel, and are spoken by Vivian in narration. In a lyrical way, Vivian explains that the past has a very powerful influence on her, and that her own sensitivity to the past is more finely-tuned than most due to her age and to witnessing so much death in her life.

I try to forget the horror of what happened. Or – perhaps forget is the wrong word. How can I forget? And yet how can I move forward even a step without tamping down the despair I feel?
-- Vivian (New York City, 1929 paragraph 9)

Importance: Here, Vivian explains her conflicted feelings and trauma with respect to her family burning in a fire. She...