Top Highlights

• If you want to understand any woman you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully. Stories about food show a strong connection. Wistful silences demonstrate unfinished business. The more a daughter knows the details of her mother’s life—without flinching or whining—the stronger the daughter.
• But the other reason women wanted daughters was to keep their memories alive.
• stories of my life were forbidden to me, and that silence nearly killed the heart in me. I did not die but lived long enough for other stories to fill up my days and nights.
• My heart is a ladle of sweet water, brimming over.
• “Their nights were filled with stars and sighs as they played the part of goddess and god.