Atonement

"The written word could perhaps accomplish what the spoken apology could not."

"Time had made her aware of her own complicity in the unfolding tragedy."

"She had come to understand that the lie was the beginning of everything."

"Atonement only truly begins with the acknowledgment of wrongdoing."

"The problem these fifty-nine years is my attempt to perfect the truth, to achieve through the written word the precision of a moment, to render the every flicker visible."

"In the story, I kept things in proportion."

"She understood now the paradox: that forgiveness too could be a selfish act."

"The past cannot be undone, only reimagined."

"She had crossed a line from which there could be no return."

"The guilty conscience knows no rest."

"Solitude became her natural state."

"To recover them from the corruptions, injuries and oblivions of the transition."

"Perfection in the marshalling of events is the only thing that can atone for the imperfection of life itself."

"She had ruined all their lives."

"She wanted to die. It was a kind of lust."

"The war had taught her that innocence was something you lost, not gained."

"There was no redemption, only the possibility of bearing witness."

"She could not undo what had been done, only carry it forward."

"She had been transformed by her own lie."

"The duty of the writer was to tell the truth, whatever the cost."

"In the end, all she had was her own account of things."

"She had learned that intention was not the same as outcome."

"There was a kind of grace in acceptance."

"The burden of knowledge was heavier than she had anticipated."

"She had been playing a part, and had forgotten that it was a part."

"She had confused pity with morality."

"In nursing, there was a kind of penance that suited her."

"There was a moment when everything changed, and she could never go back."

"She had written herself into a corner."

"In the silence, she heard only her own breathing."