Jessie Burton

“Nothing here is more fabulous than the truth”

“The night darkens, the stars unfriendly, the cold a knife upon her neck - but Nella waits, until she can no longer difference between Johannes and the darkness that carries him away.”

“Neighbours watching neighbours, twisting ropes to bind us all.”

“Because, Petronella - it's something in his soul. It's something in his soul and you can't get it out.”

“What are we all chasing? Nella wonders. To live, of course. To be unbound from the invisible ropes that Johannes spoke of in his study. Or to be happy in them, at least.”

“Take care, take care. This city thrives! It's money gives you wings to soar. But it is a yoke on your shoulders and you would do well to take note of the bruise around your neck.”

“From little seeds great flowers grow.”

“Words are water in this city. One drop of rumour could drown us.”

“The rules of this house are written in water. I must either sink or swim.”

“You are a stone, thrown upon a lake. But the ripples you create will never make you still.”

“But words are water in Amsterdam, they flood your ears and set the rot, and the church's east corner is crowded.”

“The turnip cannot thrive in the tulips patch of soil.”

“Then where is home, Johannes?" He looks at the maps on his wall. "I don't know," He says. "Where comfort is. And that is hard to find.”

“When you have truly come to know a person, Nella -- when you see beneath the sweet gestures, the smiles -- when you see the rage and the pitiful fear which each of us hide -- then forgiveness is everything.”