I do have a life,' says Charis, blinking wet eyes.

'You have a rich inner life,' says Tony firmly. 'More than most.

She’s the kind of woman who wants what she doesn’t have and gets what she wants and then despises what she gets.

Mitch looks in her direction. He can't meet her eyes. It's as if she's semi-invisible, a kind of hovering blur.

If anyone else told her to lower her voice, Roz would know what to do: scream louder.

Art is long and life is brief and mortality looms.

Roz is crying again. What she's mourning is her own good will. She tried so hard, she tried so hard to be kind and nurturing, to do the best thing. But Tony and the twins were right: no matter what you do, somebody always gets boiled.