Quotes from The Madman's Daughter

“The last thing the justice system is, is just.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“My heartbeat faltered. He pulled away, taking a little piece of my heart with him.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Dead flesh and sharpened scalpels didn't bother me. I was my father's daughter, after all. My nightmares were made of darker things.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“The ways of men and women are such a puzzle. And I could barely decipher my own feelings, let along anyone else's.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Analyzing, always analyzing— I couldn’t feel safe until I knew every aspect of what I was facing.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Paranoia had crept into that part of my brain usually reserved for reason.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“I folded my arm. "You know, I suspect you and Edward would be friends if it weren't for this place."

His eyes were on fire. "It's not this island keeping us from being friends."

My pounding heart stole the words to reply to that.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Thwack. The nail drove deeper, as if Montgomery was driving it into my very heart. How hard was it to fix a loose nail? He hit it again and again, determined to set that bookshelf straight. Determined to do something right, after so much wrong.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“The rising and falling cadence of words, carried on the wind, spoken in a language other than human.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Whether I'm right or wrong has nothing to do with gender.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“I ran after him, but he was already back with the others. My footsteps echoed in the hollow space below the dock. I stopped. If he'd wanted me to catch him, he'd have let me.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“I rested my forehead against the wall and closed my eyes. It wasn’t just my curiosity, or my fascination with anatomy, or how I could unhesitatingly chop a rabbit’s head off with an ax when a roomful of boys couldn’t. Those things were all symptoms of the same sickness - a kind of madness inherited from my father. It was a dangerous pull in my gut drawing me toward the dark possibilities of science, toward the thin line between life and death, toward the animal impulses hidden behind a corset and a smile.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“A scream hurled up my throat, but I never heard it. I'd slipped into a welcoming darkness.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“We're going to die, aren't we?" I asked bitterly.
He held me so tight I could hardly breathe. But I wanted tighter still. "Not here. I swear it.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Apparently profanity had a way of making men listen.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“He pushed my back against the stall door, kissing me. Edward had tried kissing me, but I'd been so shocked I'd barely had time to explore how it felt. Lucy had told me stories of shady corners and sweaty palms. But this was passionate. Wild. Something I'd never known.
"Have you kissed a girl before?" I whispered. He ran his thumb over my cheek. His eyes lingered on my lips.
"Yes," he said. I thought of Alice, her pretty blonde hair, the split lip that made her so vulnerable. But it wasn't her name he said.
"A woman at the docks in Brisbane. She didn't mean anything. I was lonely. It wasn't love." A prostitute, he meant.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Oh, and Juliet," he said. I turned back. Half of his face was thrown in deep shadow, while the whites of his teeth gleamed in the distant lights from the salon. "I’ll be working in the laboratory late tonight. I’ve a good start on the new specimens. Don’t be alarmed if you’re awoken. The animals - they scream, you know. An unfortunate effect of vivisection. It keeps the whole household up."

For a breath, the world seemed to freeze. And then the clouds rolled again, the wind howled again. I realized that he had charmed me, just like he charmed everyone. I’d thought I was so clever. I thought I could see past his manipulations. But I’d heard only what I wanted to.

He’d never said the accusations were untrue. Just unfair.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Believing in nothing except the truth of Montgomery, who for all his faults was as steady as the sea, as honest as the sun. My eyes watered with unexpected tears, and I kissed him harder, desperately. It wasn't a happy ending.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“But I couldn't get the image out of my head of the beast strapped to the table, Father humming while the candle wax slowly dripped, and Montgomery assisting. I felt betrayed, as though the boy I'd idolized was nothing more than a fantasy.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“He left slowly, as if he had to pry himself away before he something improper. A growing part of me wished he'd stayed.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Do you have any idea of the pain [the animals have] suffered at human hands?”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“How did you survive?” I asked. My question caught him off guard, and his hand curled around the dice. He gave a cautious shrug. “The grace of God, I suppose.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Don’t say it,” I said, almost a plea. “I love Montgomery.” But deep inside, my God, I wanted him to say it. To kiss me feverishly and end this terrible pull between us.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Do you have any idea of the pain [the animals] have suffered at human hands?”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Suddenly he brushed his rough thumb against my jaw, catching me by surprise. Heat erupted across my face as I drew in a sharp breath. Was he going to kiss me? My eyelids sank closed. Our bodies were practically touching. It was wrong to be so close to a boy—every moment of Mother’s upbringing had taught me that. But I didn’t care. We were bound together, he and I.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“Her cheeks turned a deep shade of peach. A pang of jealousy struck me deep inside, and I flopped into my chair. The others joined me at the table. Didn’t Montgomery remember last night, during the storm, running his fingers down the bare skin of my back? I did. I could barely think about anything else. Edward sat across from me, deep in his own thoughts. His hands still bore the scratches from our escape. I wondered if his ribs still hurt him. I absently touched my own, remembering the feel of his hands holding me there, that night behind the waterfall.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“I can't say that I mind a little time with you before the world rises.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“voice spoke in my ear, both familiar and terrifying. “Don’t run,”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“The heel of Montgomery’s boot tapped nervously against the floor, as if he knew he was a bad liar. “I can’t say how he’ll take the news at first. He can be unpredictable, but in the end he’ll be glad you came.” He leaned forward, blue eyes simmering. His boot tapped faster. “I’m glad you came.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

“I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. Montgomery had gotten the flowers. Sometime yesterday he’d picked wild flowers like he used to when we’d visit cousins in the country.”
― Megan Shepherd, quote from The Madman's Daughter

About the author

Popular quotes

“Household was making loans at a faster pace than ever. A big source of its growth had been the second mortgage. The document offered a fifteen-year, fixed-rate loan, but it was bizarrely disguised as a thirty-year loan. It took the stream of payments the homeowner would make to Household over fifteen years, spread it hypothetically over thirty years, and asked: If you were making the same dollar payments over thirty years that you are in fact making over fifteen, what would your “effective rate” of interest be? It was a weird, dishonest sales pitch. The borrower was told he had an “effective interest rate of 7 percent” when he was in fact paying something like 12.5 percent. “It was blatant fraud,” said Eisman. “They were tricking their customers.”
― Michael Lewis, quote from The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

“Adoption is a redemptive response to tragedy that happens in this broken world.”
― Katie J. Davis, quote from Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption

“You’re shivering with cold. I’ll make you a cup of hot soup to warm your bones. That’ll have to do for now – I’ll cook you a nice big meal later.’ I was trembling more than shivering, upset by what had happened in Morgan’s room, but gradually I began to calm down. I did as I was told and warmed my hands at the fire, watching my boots begin to steam. ‘It’s good to see you’ve still got all your fingers!’ Meg said. I smiled. ‘Where’s Mr Gregory?’ I asked, wondering if he’d been called away on spook’s business. I hoped he had because that would mean he was fit and well again. ‘He’s still in bed. He needs all the rest he can get.’ ‘So he’s not that much better yet?’ ‘He’s improving slowly,’ Meg answered. ‘But it’ll take time. These things can’t be rushed. Try not to disturb or burden him too much. He needs to rest and sleep as much as he can.’ She brought across a steaming cup of hot chicken”
― Joseph Delaney, quote from Night of the Soul Stealer

“After we have asked the Spirit to tell us what Jesus would do and have received an answer to it, we are to act regardless of the results to ourselves. Is that understood?”
― Charles M. Sheldon, quote from In His Steps

“It had been two weeks since her first real boyfriend, Jason, had broken
up with her on the eve of the first day of school. His exact words had been “Babe, you know I think you’re
the best and all, but it’s my senior year and I can’t have the baggage of a relationship. I gotta live it up,
play the field. You get it, right?” Uh, not exactly. So Michele had to begin her junior year with a broken
heart, which grew all the more painful last week, when word spread that Jason was hooking up with a
sophomore, Carly Marsh”
― Alexandra Monir, quote from Timeless

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.