Margot Livesey Quotes & Sayings

He said everyone had a book, or a writer, that was the key to their life — Margot Livesey

In The Moon, Come to Earth Philip Graham takes us on the best kind of journey, as he simultaneously reveals the fascinating city of Lisbon
its neighborhoods, its writers, its customs, its cuisine
and offers an intimate portrait of his beloved family. With his far-reaching intellect Graham is the ideal travelling companion, and The Moon, Come to Earth is a beautiful and surprising book. — Margot Livesey

E had found himself thinking that marriage was not merely an empty ritual. It was a plea for patience on the part of those involved, and for the mercy on the part of bystanders. — Margot Livesey

If you feel yourself to be a full member in the world, you probably won't turn to writing, because other methods of communication, more direct methods, will strike you as being more available. — Margot Livesey

In his scintillating new novel, Matt Bondurant explores a crucial period in the history of Virginia and of his family. His gorgeous, precise prose brings to life an amazing cast of characters, including Sherwood Anderson, and the often deadly battles of Prohibition. The Wettest County in the World is a remarkably compelling, highly intelligent, and deeply moving novel. — Margot Livesey

So often my own emotions were hidden not only from other people but from myself. or perhaps it was the other way round: i was hiding from them. — Margot Livesey

Running, I soon realized, was the best way to stay ahead of fear. — Margot Livesey

If someone tells you a lie, they're not telling you the truth, but they are telling you something. It just takes longer to figure out what. — Margot Livesey

In The Care and Management of Lies the wonderfully talented Winspear writes irresistibly about the First World War, both in the trenches of France and the fields of England. Her richly complex characters walk right off the page and into our imaginations, as we fight with them, farm with them, cook with them. I devoured this dazzling novel. — Margot Livesey

In How to Be an American Housewife Margaret Dilloway creates an irresistible heroine. Shoko is stubborn, contrary, proud, a wonderful housewife and full of deeply conflicted feelings. I wanted to shake her, even as I was cheering her on, and this cunningly structured novel allowed me to do both. It also took me on two intricate journeys, from post-war Japan and the shadow of Nagasaki to contemporary California, and from motherhood to daughterhood and back again. A profound and suspenseful debut. — Margot Livesey

As far as I'm concerned it's the other way round. We repeat what we remember. Only forgetfulness sets us free. — Margot Livesey

All along, he'd been looking in the wrong direction, trying to make time stand still, to re-create the past, but everything in life taught the opposite. — Margot Livesey

You can molest someone without touching them, without even saying anything. Just the inappropriate desire can be harmful. — Margot Livesey

She knew she oughtn't to scold but she couldn't bear such a hyperbole. People couldn't live without food and air or shelter and money. Romantic love was an extra, nice if it came along, but definitely superfluous to the main requirements of existence. — Margot Livesey

Since the accident, Jonathan had noticed, she held on to things, a doorframe, a chair, as it either she or the world needed steadying. — Margot Livesey

In the wake of her indispensable textbook, Janet Burroway now offers a splendid and concise guide to the thorny task of revision. Writers, young and old, will feel encouraged and enlightened by this excellent DVD which offers a wonderful range of specific advice and suggestive comments from a group of experienced and thoughtful writers. — Margot Livesey

Once again I glimpsed the way in which departure ripped the veil from ordinary life, revealing things that were normally kept hidden. — Margot Livesey

loves was about the people who loved you — Margot Livesey

She was afraid of numbers the way some people are of spiders. The sight of them made her want to hide. What I loved about them, their clarity, was for her duplicity. Behind an innocent 2,or 5, or 9, she spied a mass of traps and pitfalls. — Margot Livesey

In The Last of Her Kind, Sigrid Nunez once again creates characters of such depth and situations of such vivid moral complexity that reading these pages is like living them. Only as I closed the book did I sadly realize that Georgette and Ann weren't my neighbors. But happily I can revisit them again, and again, in this beautiful and absorbing novel. — Margot Livesey

Barry recounts all this in prose of often startling beauty. Just as he describes people stopping in the street to look at Roseanne, so I often found myself stopping to look at the sentences he gave her, wanting to pause and copy them down. — Margot Livesey

A vivid portrait of a teenage girl and her family in disarray. Meredith is a wonderful narrator, witty, feisty, full of yearning, and the story she tells is as complicated as life itself. This is a richly satisfying novel. — Margot Livesey

Passonate, irreverent, utterly relevant, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk offers an unforgettable portrait of a reluctant hero. Ben Fountain writes like a man inspired and his razor sharp exploration of our contemporary ironies will break your heart. — Margot Livesey