Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Kate Morton

Quote by Kate Morton

“Even when they were very small Eliza had known that Sammy needed her more than she needed him, even before he caught the fever and was nearly lost to them. Something in his manner left him vulnerable. Other children had known it when they were small, grown-ups knew it now. They sensed somehow that he was not really one of them. And he wasn't, he was a changeling. Eliza knew all about changelings. She'd read about them in the book of fairy tales that had sat for a time in the rag and bottle shop. There'd been pictures, too. Fairies and sprites who looked just like Sammy, with his fine strawberry hair, long ribbony limbs and round blue eyes. The way Mother told it, something had set Sammy apart from other children ever since he was a babe: an innocence, a stillness. She used to say that while Eliza had screwed up her little red face and howled for a feeding, Sammy had never cried. He used to lie in his drawer, listening, as if to beautiful music floating on the breeze that no one but he could hear.”

Quote by Kate Morton

Work

The Forgotten Garden

This book is a tale of intrigue and discovery, weaving together the stories of a young girl and her descendants as they unravel the enigmatic origins of a long-lost garden. The narrative spans generations, exploring themes of family legacy, love, and the enduring power of memory. more

Author

Kate Morton
Kate Morton

Kate Morton, born in 1976, is an acclaimed Australian author known for her intricate family histories and emotional storytelling. more

You May Also Like

“They contain round archipelagoes of romantic isles, even as the Polynesian waters do; in large part, are shored by two great contrasting nations, as the Atlantic is; the furnish long maritime approaches to out numerous territorial colonies from the East, dotted all round their banks; here and there are frowned upon by batteries, and by the goat-like craggy guns of lofty Mackinaw; they have heard the fleet thunderings of naval victories; at intervals, they yield their beaches to wild barbarians, whose red painted faces flash from out their peltry wig-wams; for leagues and leagues are flanked by ancient and unentered forest, where the gaunt pines stand like serried lines of kings in Gothic genealogies; those same woods harboring wild Afric beasts of prey, and silken creatures whose exported furs give robes to Tartart Emperors; they mirror the paved capitals of Buffalo and Cleveland, as well as Winnebago villages; they float alike the full-rigged merchant ship, the armed cruiser of the State, the steamer, and the beech canoe; they are swept by Borean and dismasting blasts as direful as any that lash the salted wave; they know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew.”

“They are the largest collection of freshwater lakes in the world. They border eight U.S. states and the Canadian Providence of Ontario and at time have supplied water to one-third of Canadians and one-seventh of Americans. They're vaster than the entire New England region and define beachfront to many people who have never seen an ocean.”

“HOWARD TANNER WAS NEVER BIG ON THE IDEA OF VALUING NATIVE species simply because they are native. His priority in the 1960s was to convert the lakes from a resource primarily managed as a commercial fishery into a sportsmen’s haven, and native species just didn’t fit his bill—and they still don’t. “I doubt if the charter boat captains can sustain a fishery on lake trout,” he said. He called trolling for native walleye “about the most boring thing you can do.” “Like bringing in a wet sock,” he said.”

“Aki, with a sharp intake of breath, found herself stepping forward, drawn to the pit as if by some ancestral magnetism. Beside her, the others mirrored her actions, their gasps creating a symphony of awe that filled the clearing. They stood at the brink, peering down, their eyes wide, their mouths open, their faces reflecting a mixture of reverence and wonder. For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath—the sounds of the forest stilled, the leaves of the trees pausing in their rustling whispers, even the air itself waiting in hushed anticipation. Then, as if the pause were too profound to last, the forest sounds returned, but the onlookers remained motionless, transfixed. Aki's heart raced as she reached out tentatively, her fingers hovering just above the copper, feeling the warmth that radiated from it. It was not just metal; it was a piece of history, a fragment of the earth's untold story.”