I was aware, in those early days of motherhood, that my behaviour was strange to the people who knew me well. It was as though I had been brainwashed, taken over by a cult religion. And yet this cult, motherhood, was not a place where I could actually live. Like any cult, it demanded a complete surrender of identity to belong to it.

I remain fascinated by where you go as a woman once you are a mother, and if you ever come back.

Help is dangerous because it exists outside the human economy: the only payment for help is gratitude.

Rachel Cusk Quotes