Remember you have just one mother, said Marina. Better not rush her to the grave! Though Marina had grown up with such reminders from her own mother, she could never get the tone quite right herself.

One thing a Soviet upbringing taught you was to pay attention.

Banal, prepackaged sentiments neatly wrapped with a bow on top, like she got them at the resentful-wife store. And when she used them, you could tell how much she was tapping into their universal power. She was destroyed and destructive and had to say something.

... he rushed to the calendar where he jotted everything from Mama's Birthday to Buy New Toothbrush so that each month became a solid ink-black block of accomplishment.

The power of the ocean wasn't questioned.

... coastal peoples from across the globe knew when they were among their kind.

Misha didn't finish flossing his sculpted popcorn molars, though the upkeep of his teeth was the closest he had to a sacred rite.

Reality was a bad choice of enemy — it had no need for disguise, didn't respect the rules, and hit below the belt.