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“That was the way of the world: if you were a woman, then you had a job to do, and that was to pretend to love everyone else walking all over your body, leaving imprints on your face. You were supposed to crave it, to beg for more.”
― Julia Bartz, The Writing Retreat

“I want to think that I'm Chinese and American both, but depending on the country, I feel like I'm not enough of either.”
― Grace D. Li, Portrait of a Thief

“Where did one’s power lie in a world that stripped it from you, over and over again? How could we reclaim it when the dominant forces dangled it above our heads, shouting: Only the strong survive?”
― Julia Bartz, The Writing Retreat

“We’re children of the diaspora,” Will said. He had grown up in the US, knew that no matter how much he wanted it to be, China would never be home to him. “All we’ve ever known is loss.”
― Grace D. Li, Portrait of a Thief