Top Final Sentences of 2023
He knew that on the day of his death he would see her face and he could hope to carry that beauty into the darkness with him, the last pagan on earth, singing softly upon his pallet in an unknown tongue.
Cormac McCarthy, from The Passenger
And there are so many silences to be broken.
Audre Lorde, from “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”
For Guinevere Tallow, it felt like coming home.
Ethan M. Aldridge, from Deephaven
And we laughed and held each other and filled our hearts with the faith that we could always do that, always blow away the clouds that threatened our stars.
Andrew Neiderman as V.C. Andrews, from Honey
But as anyone who loves reading and writing quickly learns, both activities allow you to commune with the living and the dead, to listen to the thoughts of those who have come before you and argue, cajole, and sing praise for them in response.
Kaitlyn Greenidge, from “Books for a Black Girl’s Soul”
The greatest shame would be to reach the end of our lives and have the epitaph read, ‘They worked really hard.’
Roxane Gay, from “Yes, Your Job Is Important. But It’s Not All Important.”
The sky is gory with stars, like the insides of a gutted night.
Julia Armfield, from “Salt Slow”
Sometimes, even in towns built on curses, at least once in a blue moon, things turn out okay.
Ryan Douglass, from “Knickknack”
Eventually, if we speak the truth to each other, it will become unavoidable to ourselves.
Audre Lorde, from “Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger”
In the distance, the darkness has started to lift like a veil, the first light of dawn spilling over the Beijing skyline, a promise of all the beautiful and terrible and sun-soaked days to come.
Ann Liang, from If You Could See the Sun
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