How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Behind our craft's bow sit my two granddaughters, Gulbadan and Rurayya. No longer girls, each is a wondrous incarnation of my daughter. Looking at them, I think that time has moved too swiftly, that just yesterday I was stroking the soles of their diminutive, untested feet. My love for my granddaughters is even stronger now than it was then. When I see them I feel as if I'm moving forward into places harboring no regrets, no memories to remind me of my scars, those thick welts upon my mind and body. (Part I.4)
This is such a sweet way to describe getting old, and it gives all of us optimism for the days when we're old and yelling at kids to get off our lawn.
Quote #2
The next few years were peaceful, quiet in the way Allah intended. Infants learned to crawl while our elderly journeyed to Paradise. Crops were sown and reaped, then sown again. Certainly battles were fought, but battles had always been a constant in our lives. At least we suffered through no famine, plague, or shaking of the ground. Our homes rarely caught fire, and our prayers mostly seemed answered. (7.1)
It can be a tricky business to jump forward in time when you're writing a novel. Just saying "ten years later" is pretty blah, and you want to create a smooth transition so the readers don't just mentally check out. Shors has mastered the art of the time passage by describing it this way. Isn't it pretty?
Quote #3
I held her, feeling the heavy toll of years, years short in number but becoming long with demands. I was tired of being strong, so weary of duty and scheming that at that moment I'd have traded my station with any serving girl in Agra. (7.93)
Jahanara's right: happy years tend to fly by, but difficult years drag on and on and on. The poor girl has had a couple of really tough years, so this period of must have felt like an eternity.