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“... Earlier Mrs Wren had appeared entirely joyful holding her husband’s hand in the outer corridor – yet how she wept inside of the courtroom, so much so that her face looked enamelled. And this could all prove that Mr Wren is an admirable man. But before I ever arrived at this trial that bore on Mr Wren’s gun and what he might have meant to do with it – I should have returned home to change clothing, because the heavy pant-leg material of my new trousers made an upsetting noise, while rubbing itself against itself with every step I took ...”

“... gluttony or for his enterprise.What am I? – I wonder, dear god – now best known for.Listen to Diane Williams discuss her stories on the LRB ...”

“... His spaniel was up on its hind legs, paws on his master’s belly, where my paws happily had lately been.He was my host, and I ate his food, while others there were still at it, too, and the plate set in front of me gave off a hopeful fragrance.This man, not seated at the table – my host – stood cross-legged next to it, while balancing himself against a dining chair ...”

“... Good luck itself has a releasing effect on the spine, she was surprised to discover. She counted on some extra good luck and would try to feel kindred with the hunched figures advising her. He was there. Miles Macbeth. It was a cold room, and the staircase that funnelled people towards it was composed of nervous-making alternating treads of black and white marble ...”

“... He’d never quite seen anyone in that state before, even though he has a mother and all that.Today Lizzie is, he thinks, irresistibly plaintive.Then the doorbell jerked the husband to his feet.Does Lizzie live here?Who are you?Where did she go? Where did Lizzie go?Who wants to know?Lizzie meant to answer hurriedly and hotly, but nevertheless stayed hidden ...”

“... I was able to get Harriet Mounce to shriek and I think I must have thought any shriek would do.When she first stood there naked, I remember she was solemn or she looked annoyed or was she really pained? But she did seem to like me. The cues – she had really focused her eyes on me and she had smiled while on her haunches by the hearth a bit earlier ...”

“... One woman grew her hair so long it dragged across the floor as she walked. People thought she was pleasing to look at and she wore highly decorated clothing. And facing the gods was joyful for her too. Foremost, she had to face herself – and she thought she was so inspirational. She did not see her darker purposes … These lay far away in veiled areas ...”

“... Tell them all to leave. I won’t look!’ her husband had said. He’d just returned from a visit to town when he said, ‘Tell your boyfriends to leave!’ ‘Oh, darling,’ his wife said, ‘I’m in the garden,’ and she went back outside to stand a moment near the flowering vine – the trained pillar form by the doorway. Not today – none of the boyfriends were with her today and she felt poorly on account of it ...”

“... The short time they have been together, they have shared sex, the house and garden! – food and drink! – what some would consider freedom! – although this is probably the last time he will visit. He can leave, of course. Several rooms of her house have small windows, too small for anybody to climb out of. As for the garden – yes, there can be golden flecks in it – there is a glow ...”

“... My brother’s words when I hear them these days seem not to go into my ears – but down some other deeper artery. He said, ‘It’s mother’s house and I just think of it as home.’ ‘I would never ever go there today,’ I said. And we were in the middle of a paved two-way drive in the park, having left it up to the pack of people we were in among to decide whether it was prudent for us to cross ...”

“... I think of her – this other woman I have never seen again – one arm flung out ahead while she spoke her emotions, her dress pressed back against her body by the wind, and for several moments she was my all, because I have been separated from my wife. This woman on the village green told me she was very worried about the whales. Of course, I spot women everywhere diving head-first into action to get straight to the point ...”

“... I had had enough of everything during what I took to be my turn.‘Can I just pet it,’ I said, when Tim and I were in bed, ‘instead of my taking it inside?’ But Tim said no.And then, at the task, he pulled himself back and forth inside of me with many repetitions, enough to get to the next step for him – to stabilise the project. He was cramming rather a lot into the tiny space ...”

“... The Realist‘You can’t really think I would like this!’ and he hands the gift back to his wife. ‘Did you ever know me to have anything like this?’     ‘Yes, me!’Catalpa‘Did you ever find out about that tree?’ the wife asks.     ‘A lady in the park told me – it’s catalpa!’     ‘A lady in the park? Who is the lady in the park?’     ‘She probably had a dog,’ her husband says ...”

“... She​ had stopped insisting that they have heart-to-heart conversations, but for stranded people, they had these nice moments together, and he had his professional enjoyment at the newspaper. He approved the issues there with a scientific mind and he made quite a contribution. He was a consultant in the field of efficiency. She should have appreciated that, I guess ...”

“... Eventually the mother died. My wife, was, in spite of everything, very fond of her mother, and had saved a dog abandoned at Vaughn’s – because, she said, the dog reminded her of her mother.      Then why be so careless? Because Molly went up a walkway of stairs with the dog who wasn’t on a leash, and using by-paths – she went far into a part of the park where there were high thickets and the dog disappeared ...”