Aunt Rosa, a fussy, angular, wild-eyed old lady, who had lived in a tremulous world of bad news, bankruptcies, train accidents, cancerous growths–until the Germans put her to death, together with all the people she had worried about.

Vladimir Nabokov
About This Quote

Aunt Rosa is a person who has experienced the worst imaginable consequences of war. She lived through the bombing of London and then lost her nephew during World War II. To help her cope, she would remind herself of the worst aspects of the war and how it affected those around her. After all, we must face our fears and do it all over again, even though we know we will probably suffer the same horrible fate as Aunt Rosa did.

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