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Connie is the leader of the Convent women. She has lived at the Convent since childhood, after the nun Mary Magna took her from the streets of Brazil and brought her to America. Connie remains devoted to Mary Magna throughout her life, and she is devastated when the older woman dies. Mary Magna’s death sends Connie into a self-loathing depression, worsened by her growing dependence on alcohol. Having been raised by nuns, Connie is deeply religious, and she fears that her power to “step in” (an ability that lets her heal the dying) is unholy. She loves God, but she does not believe she can be united with him in death; she is certain that she will be buried “ungrieved in unholy ground.” The only significant relationship Connie ever has with a man is her brief affair with the married Deek Morgan. She is in love with Deek, but he leaves her without warning, and Connie’s shame revitalizes her devotion to Christ. Though Connie welcomes anyone in need into the Convent, she grows resentful of the women who establish permanent homes there, viewing them as unproductive and impractical. The other women, however, do not realize the extent of Connie’s apathy and frustration toward them. She is uniquely gifted at listening and comforting the women who come to the Convent, despite her own inner turmoil. Finally, she pulls herself out of the depths of depression by asserting her leadership over the Convent and establishing routines and rituals to help the women bond and collectively recover from their trauma. Connie spends her life helping others, from the women at the Convent to Mary Magna to the two townspeople she heals by “stepping in.” She believes herself to be sinful and unholy, but in reality, Connie is an empathetic and insightful woman with a natural instinct toward kindness.
Consolata (Connie) Sosa Quotes in Paradise
The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Consolata (Connie) Sosa or refer to Consolata (Connie) Sosa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Mavis
Quotes
Mavis frowned at the pecans. “No,” she said. “Think of something else I can do to help. Shelling that stuff would make me crazy.”
“No it wouldn’t. […] Look at your nails. Strong, curved like a bird’s––perfect pecan hands. Fingernails like that take the meat out whole every time. Beautiful hands, yet you say you can’t. Make you crazy. Makes me crazy to see good nails go to waste.”
Later, [Mavis watched] her suddenly beautiful hands moving at the task […].
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Consolata
Quotes
At first she tried it out of the weakness of devotion turned to panic––nothing seemed to relive the sick woman––then, angered by helplessness, she assumed an attitude of command. Stepping in to find the pinpoint of light. Manipulating it, widening it, strengthening it. Reviving, even raising, her from time to time. And so intense were the steppings in, Mary Magna glowed like a lamp till her very last breath in Consolata’s arms. So she had practiced, and although it was for the benefit of the woman she loved, she knew it was anathema, that Mary Magna would have recoiled in disgust and fury knowing her life was prolonged by evil.
That is how the loud dreaming began. How the stories rose in that place. Half-tales and the never-dreamed escaped from their lips to soar high above guttering candles, shifting dusts from crates and bottles. And it was never important to know who said the dream or whether it had meaning. In spite of or because their bodies ache, they step easily into the dreamer’s tale.
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Consolata (Connie) Sosa Quotes in Paradise
The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Consolata (Connie) Sosa or refer to Consolata (Connie) Sosa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Mavis
Quotes
Mavis frowned at the pecans. “No,” she said. “Think of something else I can do to help. Shelling that stuff would make me crazy.”
“No it wouldn’t. […] Look at your nails. Strong, curved like a bird’s––perfect pecan hands. Fingernails like that take the meat out whole every time. Beautiful hands, yet you say you can’t. Make you crazy. Makes me crazy to see good nails go to waste.”
Later, [Mavis watched] her suddenly beautiful hands moving at the task […].
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Consolata
Quotes
At first she tried it out of the weakness of devotion turned to panic––nothing seemed to relive the sick woman––then, angered by helplessness, she assumed an attitude of command. Stepping in to find the pinpoint of light. Manipulating it, widening it, strengthening it. Reviving, even raising, her from time to time. And so intense were the steppings in, Mary Magna glowed like a lamp till her very last breath in Consolata’s arms. So she had practiced, and although it was for the benefit of the woman she loved, she knew it was anathema, that Mary Magna would have recoiled in disgust and fury knowing her life was prolonged by evil.
That is how the loud dreaming began. How the stories rose in that place. Half-tales and the never-dreamed escaped from their lips to soar high above guttering candles, shifting dusts from crates and bottles. And it was never important to know who said the dream or whether it had meaning. In spite of or because their bodies ache, they step easily into the dreamer’s tale.
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