The Blind Assassin — Vocabulary
Margaret Atwood
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She's been nagging at him to compose a poem to the nape of her neck, or to some other part of her anatomy, as is the practice among the more foppish of the court lovers, but his talents do not lie in that direction.p.129.9alternate pages7 more

I am her outcome, the result of the life she once lived headlong; whereas she, if she can be said to exist at all, is composed only of what I remember.p.239.6alternate pages7 more

That was from a book by Sir Henry Layard, who'd discovered the statues in the ruins of Nineveh and had them shipped to England; they were said to be illustrations of the angels described in the Book of Ezekiel.p.157.8alternate pages5 more

Instead she would copy pictures, or else she'd colour in the black-and-white illustrations in thick, erudite books of travel and history with her coloured pencils.p.157.5alternate pages5 more

I was wearing the outfit Winifred had thought appropriate for the occasion, which was a nightgown of satin in a shade of salmon pink, with a delicate lace trim of cobweb grey.p.241.8alternate pages6 more

Amid widespread panic, the Lizard Men had made parts of Eurasia and South America their slave colonies, appropriating the younger women for their hellish breeding experiments and burying the corpses of the men in enormous pits, after eating the parts of them they preferred.p.350.9alternate pages6 more

From what I'd heard about Mother, she might have insisted I be sent to school — the Alma Ladies' College, or some such worthy, dreary institution — to learn something functional but equally dreary, like shorthand; but as for a debut, that would have been vanity.p.168.5alternate pages6 more

She continued to haul me around from function to function — Junior League meetings, political bun-fests, committees for this and that — and to park me on chairs and in corners, while she did the necessary socializing.p.370.5alternate pages6 more

Grit blows through the air, crumpled paper along the ground; the sidewalks are treacherous with ice, from packed snow nobody's shovelled.p.274.2alternate pages6 more

Immediately I felt treacherous.p.483.3alternate pages6 more

We could not be absolutely prohibited, but we would be certain to attract an annoying measure of subdued scorn.p.387.3alternate pages11 more

Several new treatments are available that we hope to use with positive effect, in particular the "electro-shock therapy," for which we will have the equipment soon.p.405.9alternate pages2 more

It also went to show the value of statesmanship and diplomacy as well as positive thinking and plain old hard-headed business sense.p.455.4alternate pages2 more

The grounds were derelict, the gardens overgrown; the conservatory was a wreck, with broken panes of glass and desiccated plants, still in their pots.p.504.3alternate pages10 more

A lifting of both eyebrows, the candid, transparent stare of a double agent.p.260.5alternate pages2 more

Or this is what is said of him in The Chase Industries: A History, a book my grandfather commissioned in 1903 and had privately printed, in green leather covers, with not only the title but his own candid, heavy signature embossed on the front in gold.p.54.6alternate pages2 more

Would there be no Chase and Sons? ... This must have been the reproachful undertone of more than one discussion, around the dinner table, over the port.p.65.1alternate pages4 more

As I stood behind the table, Reenie in an undertone retailed the latest news.p.173.9alternate pages4 more

The perennial adolescent riposte.p.203.1alternate pages5 more

I had plans for a perennial shade garden.p.479.6alternate pages5 more