How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Page)
Quote #1
Tante Atie kept looking at the window even after all signs of the Augustins had faded into the night. A tear rolled down her cheek as she unbolted the door to go inside. (1.15)
Atie knows heartbreak, that's for sure. She and Monsieur Augustin were meant to marry, but, as she puts it, someone more worthy came along. Her life in Croix-des-Rosets forces her to see her rival and her former lover—who live right across the road—in the most intimate of circumstances. We're not sure if this makes Atie a saint or a sucker for punishment.
Quote #2
"My angel," she said, "I would like to know that by word or by example I have taught you love. I must tell you that I do love your mother. Everything I love about you, I loved in her first. That is why I could never fight her about keeping you here." (2.21)
When Atie has to say goodbye to Sophie, she wants to make sure that there is no mistaking how she feels about the child. It is the purest expression of motherly love in the work. It also clarifies for us how she feels about Martine, even though we see later that the relationship between them, in real time, is strained.
Quote #3
"Old woman, I brought your child," Tante Atie said. The rope slipped out of my grandmother's hands, the bucket crashing with an echoing splash. I leaped into her arms, nearly knocking her down. "It does my heart a lot of good to see you," she said. (3.23)
There is such joy in this ritualistic greeting. Atie has brought young Sophie to see her grandmother one more time before she flies off to New York. The uncomplicated emotion among these ladies contrasts greatly with what Sophie will meet when she arrives in the U.S.