The widow's season

“She knew very well how she looked and sounded on her worst days, and to hell with them if they didn't like it. Life was not always pretty and cheerful, with hair curled and teeth whitened and supper waiting on the table. Life was sometimes a bitter harpy perched on the bedpost.” (page 13)

“Love was complicated, that was all. Or was love simple, and marriage was complicated? In seventeen years of marriage, David had often left her feeling frustrated, and furious, and disgusted, yes - but he had also made her feel beautiful, and protected, and loved. And oh, what she would give to feel loved right now.” (page 25)