You have to look for the little mercies, the small kindnesses and good that come from the terrible.

Sleeping in Eden is intense and absorbing from the very first page. Written in lovely prose, two seemingly different storylines collide in a shocking conclusion.

But you know all about that, being sorry and having no words to say something when you know you should but you just can’t.

We’re always one breath away from something, living or dying, sometimes it just can’t be helped.

I realize then, what my mother already knows – has known for a long time. Motherhood is a procession of goodbyes. Some bittersweet and filled with promise and hope, some gradual, a gentle prying away of your fingers from something precious, some more violent, unexpected.

We're always on breath away from something--living or dying--, sometimes it just can't be helped.

We're always one breath away from something, living or dying, sometimes it just can't be helped.

But you know all about that, being sorry and having no words to say something when you know you should but you just can't

It's not going to be easy," she says, looking up at me. "it's probably going to get a lot harder before it gets easier. No one can change what you did or what has happened in the past." I lower my head and start to cry again. "But-" she says so sharply that I have to look up at her again. "But you do have control over who you are no and how you carry yourself. Do you understand?" (pg. 91)

Having a little girl has been like following an old treasure map with the important paths torn away.