Quote: Indirect Communication II

Lena is rocked by the strength of her urge to give Trey [all the information] she has. For generations, this townland has been begging for someone to come along and defy it wholesale, blow all its endless, unbreakable, unspoken rules to smithereens and let everyone choke on the dust. If Trey has the spine and the will to do it, she deserves the chance. Lena only wishes she had got there herself, back when she was young enough and wild enough to throw everything else away.

Tana French, The Hunter, p. 402

Quote: Women in Pubs

“Women,” Mart says with deep disapproval, appearing at Cal’s shoulder. “The pub’s full of women tonight.”

“They get everywhere,” Cal agrees gravely. “You reckon they should stay home and take care of the kids?”

“Ah, Jaysus, no. We’ve the twenty-first century here now. They’ve as much right to a night out as anyone. But they change the atmosphere of a place. You can’t deny that. Look at that, now.” Mart nods at the girl in the pink dress, who has started dancing with one of her girlfriends in a few square inches of space between the tables and the bar. “That’s disco behavior, that is. That’s what you get when there’s women in. They oughta have pubs of their own, so they can have their pint in peace without some potato-faced f-er trying to get into their knickers, and I can have mine without your man’s hormones getting in the air and spoiling the taste.”

“If they weren’t here,” Cal points out, “you’d be stuck looking at nothing better’n my hairy face for the evening.”

“True enough,” Mart concedes. “Some of the women in here tonight are a lot more scenic than yourself, no harm to you. Not all of them, but some.”

Tana French, The Hunter, pp. 120 – 121

Quote: Showers are Dangerous

“Did you fall down the mountainside too, didja?”

“Nope,” Cal says. “Slipped in the shower. I musta been drunker than I thought, too.”

“The shower’s a terrible man,” Mart agrees obligingly. “My cousin up in Gorteen, he slipped in the shower and smacked his head. It does be fierce hard work talking to him; you wouldn’t know which eye to look at.”

“Guess I got lucky,” Cal says.

“So far,” Mart points out. “I’d watch that shower if I was you. Once they get a taste of blood, there’s no holding them.”

Tana French, The Hunter, p. 242

Quote: Talking to Women

“What would you be talking about, the two of ye?” he asks.

The question startles Cal. “Like what?”

“That’s what I’m asking you. One way or t’other, I’ve never had much opportunity for conversation with women … What would a man be talking about with a woman?”

“Jeez, man,” Cal says. “I dunno.”

“I’m not asking you what sweet nothings you go whispering in her ear. I’m asking about conversation. What kind chats you’d be having over a cuppa tea, like.”

“Stuff,” says Cal. “Like I’d talk about with anyone. What do you talk about with the guys in the pub?”

“Stuff,” Mart acknowledges. “Fair point there, bucko.”

Tana French, The Hunter, p. 241