You know when you meet someone and you instantly know that you are destined to be the dearest of friends? That is how I feel about the book I've started this week. It's a recommendation by our local celebrities here in Bellingham - Chuck and Dee, owners of Village Books.
The Monk Downstairs is absolutely taking my breath away. I've been staying up too late reading it all week, and it's all tabbed up with quotes that I want to share with anyone who will listen. I'm having a terrible time picking just one - almost every page is hitting close to home for me as a single mom, as a spiritual being, as a woman, as a human. But here is one, and maybe I'll be able to narrow down another one to share when I finish the book.
"She felt her frustrated need for ardor as a burden and her longing for depth as a kind of dull pain. Sometimes, to be sure, smoking the last cigarette of the day, looking up at the stars, she would feel for a moment that life was bearable. But that wasn't much to offer a child's soul: Someday, sweetheart, with enough wine and nicotine, you too will be glad just to have survived another day. You may even, briefly, be content. It wasn't enough for anyone, really. But it was what she had."
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Cross-posted from singlesupermama.com