Youth, she realized, would offer no protection. The war would be a youth festival of death.

Crossing by Night, 1993

She awoke in a fog of remorse.… Her behavior made no sense to her. She had betrayed everything and everyone. And what was worse, it was wonderful.

Crossing by Night, 1993

Giving each wave a name, Antonio, John, Arthur, she played a version of loves-me-loves-me-not, wondering whether her destiny would lie with the one that came up highest on the beach. Then she realized the tide was going out.

Crossing by Night, 1993

“Dignity, my dear. And if that fails you, try arrogance.”

Crossing by Night, 1993

In the growing darkness, they could see the antiaircraft shells rising upward and exploding like skyrockets illuminating the nearby hills. In time, the bombing stopped and the fires began giving the city and the surrounding mountains an unearthly glow.…

“How can death and destruction be so beautiful?”

Crossing by Night, 1993