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Grace (Gigi)
Seneca is the third woman to come to the Convent. As a child, she was abandoned by her guardian Jean––a girl who Seneca believed to be her sister but who in fact was her mother. Jean left behind a letter written in lipstick, which Seneca keeps for the rest of her life. Jean’s departure instills Seneca with low self-esteem and a fear of abandonment. She is desperate to please others, which leaves her trapped in a relationship with her abusive boyfriend Eddie Turtle. They remain a couple even after Eddie goes to prison; Seneca finally leaves him when Eddie’s own mother advises her to do so. Seneca then falls into a controlling relationship with a wealthy married woman, who dismisses Seneca when her husband returns. Seneca hitchhikes around the country, ultimately winding up in Ruby, where she sees Sweetie Fleetwood and is drawn to her suffering. Seneca follows Sweetie to the Convent, where the other women welcome her. She has a habit of self-harm, which she tries to hide from the women at the Convent.
Seneca Quotes in Paradise
The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Seneca or refer to Seneca. 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:
).
Seneca
Quotes
The third day, [Seneca] began to understand why Jean was gone and how to get her back. She cleaned her teeth and washed her ears carefully. She also flushed the toilet right away, as soon as she used it, and folded her socks inside her shoes. […] Those were her prayers: if she did everything right without being told, either Jean would walk in or when she knocked on one of the apartment doors, there’d she be! Smiling and holding out her arms.
Meanwhile the nights were terrible.
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Consolata
Quotes
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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Seneca Quotes in Paradise
The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Seneca or refer to Seneca. 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:
).
Seneca
Quotes
The third day, [Seneca] began to understand why Jean was gone and how to get her back. She cleaned her teeth and washed her ears carefully. She also flushed the toilet right away, as soon as she used it, and folded her socks inside her shoes. […] Those were her prayers: if she did everything right without being told, either Jean would walk in or when she knocked on one of the apartment doors, there’d she be! Smiling and holding out her arms.
Meanwhile the nights were terrible.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Consolata
Quotes
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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