What the River Knows Quotes

“Grief was like a memory keeper. It showed me moments I’d forgotten, and I was grateful, even as my stomach hollowed out. I never wanted to forget them, no matter how painful it was to remember.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Everyone deserved a living wage. No human ought to be treated as if their work didn’t matter, or their choices, or their dreams.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“That was the smile I didn’t trust—I just knew it came with consequences.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Art should outlive its creator.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“The world dimmed, narrowed to the barrel of her weapon.
‘I know you’re the type of person who would leave the safety of the camp with a near stranger, even knowing they carried a weapon.’
I backed away a step. ‘What are you playing at? Lower it.’
Isadora rolled her eyes. ‘Now you’re scared. A little too late, Inez.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“In Egypt? We’re all looking for something.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“No human ought to be treated as if their work didn’t matter, or their choices, or their dreams.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Is this it, Whit?” I whispered. He squeezed me and pressed his lips against mine lightly. “If it is, this where I want to be.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Their death was a truth that was both strange, and yet profoundly ordinary.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“I won’t let him get away with it. I want him to know it was me that ruined him. The person he underestimated, the sister he believed insignificant and not smart enough to understand his work.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“He knew more about my parents, truths he wouldn’t share. He drank too much and probably flirted with every woman he met. It was hard to feel special if I was just a drop in the bucket. But he had saved my life. Cared to make sure if I was comfortable. Took my side in arguments with my uncle.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“I did love my dresses, but did they have to be so delicate?”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“The Nile knew everything,had seen the best and worst if Egypt.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“What I didn’t understand was what he actually did. Was he a treasure hunter? A student of Egyptian history? A lover of sand and blistering days out in the sun?”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Hurt pinched my heart and I tried not to think about how we might have laughed harder if she had behaved more like herself around me.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Have you not heard of the bar at Shepheard’s? It’s legendary. The best of humanity gathered round to gossip, deal, manipulate, and inebriate”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Too risky,” I repeated. “To write to your own daughter? I mourned you. I’m still mourning you.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Perhaps it was only loneliness that made me feel that way, but I suspected it was actually because I liked Whit, and I wanted him to like me back.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“I stared after him in disbelief, his intuition profoundly unsettling. Why couldn’t he act the scoundrel all the time? A brawny rogue who only cared about himself. It’d be so much easier to forgive.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Listening at doors, Inez? That’s beneath a young lady of your upbringing”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Her beauty doesn’t turn my head, trust me. I have zero intention of courting her.” “Inez is off-limits to you,” my uncle pressed. “She’s my niece, do you understand?”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Your father made his wealth by working hard, making smart investments, and succeeding in the railroad industry. It was a good match, though, and they both were able to relax here. Become the people they were meant to.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“He was a part of the secret. The nefarious secret. The confirmation left me feeling unaccountably sad.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“It was as if Cleopatra had left an imprint of herself behind, a woman who had lived over two millennia ago. I could feel her presence and her emotions. She was alluring and earthy, a woman who knew how to provoke, a woman who knew how to lead.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“My mind reeled. Such a find would rock the Cairo community, and scores of foreigners would travel to Egypt wanting a piece of history.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“Inez, your uncle has involved himself with an illegal smuggling trade of Egyptian artifacts. I’ve been trying to stop him, but he’s too well connected. He’s different, more desperate and”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“He’s not the brother I’ve known all my life. He’s changed, and I watched it happen.” Her face twisted. “I let it happen. This is my fault.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“How dare he try to corner me like this when he kept secrets professionally”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“But I always managed to break free from the routine in some small way, and Elvira followed. Little adventures with a laughing shadow at my heels.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows

“I stare at many pretty ladies, Olivera. Don’t make anything of it,” he said, but the words came out stern, without their usual teasing lilt.”
― Isabel Ibañez, What the River Knows