Believing the worst; distrustful of hope and goodness

📝 He gave a cynical shrug, certain the charity would never reach the people who needed it.

📖 At the story's lowest point, Flora's old cynical voice returns, whispering that she was foolish ever to hope, that of course it would all end in loss.

Courage and strength to endure pain or hardship

📝 It took great fortitude to keep training after such a serious injury.

📖 It takes real fortitude for Flora to keep going when everything seems lost — to refuse despair and hold on to hope a little longer.

A feeling of sadness about something you wish you had not done, or had done differently

📝 She felt a pang of regret for the unkind words she had spoken in anger.

📖 In the darkest hours, regret weighs on everyone — over harsh words, cold choices, and the love they failed to show in time.

Honest and heartfelt; truly meant

📝 His apology was sincere, and she could tell he truly meant it.

📖 Stripped of their defences, Flora and her friends finally speak to one another in sincere, honest words, with nothing left to hide.

Severe pain or suffering of the mind

📝 She waited in anguish for news of the missing climbers.

📖 When it seems that Ulysses may be lost for good, Flora is gripped by anguish — a pain sharper than anything her cynicism had prepared her for.

A deep sympathy for others' suffering, and a wish to help

📝 Moved by compassion, she gave her own lunch to the hungry stranger.

📖 It is compassion that saves the day — the small, stubborn kindness of people who choose to care for one another despite everything.

The state of being alone and cut off from others

📝 Living so far from town, the old shepherd grew used to isolation.

📖 Each of these characters knows isolation: Flora in her cynicism, William in his blindness, her father in his lonely flat — until they begin to find one another.

A deep, aching desire for something

📝 There was a yearning in her voice whenever she spoke of her old home.

📖 Beneath Flora's hard shell is a yearning she can barely admit — a longing to be loved, and to be allowed to love in return.

Open to being hurt; without protection or defences

📝 Sharing her writing made her feel exposed and vulnerable.

📖 For the first time, Flora lets herself be vulnerable, setting down the armour of cynicism and admitting how much she truly cares.

Bleak and miserable; utterly without comfort or hope

📝 The empty house felt desolate now that everyone had moved away.

📖 The darkest chapter leaves Flora feeling desolate, as though every good thing has slipped through her fingers at once.

Honest and open; saying exactly what you truly feel

📝 In a candid moment, she admitted she had been afraid all along.

📖 In a candid, painful confession, William Spiver finally tells the truth about why he was sent away from home.

A state of hopelessness that drives a person to act

📝 In desperation, he banged on every door until someone finally answered.

📖 Out of sheer desperation to save Ulysses, Flora does something braver than anything her cynical self would have believed possible.

To reach an agreement through discussion and compromise

📝 The two countries met to negotiate a fair and lasting peace.

📖 Flora must learn to negotiate — with her mother, with her fear, and with the cynical voice that tells her to give up.

Boldly refusing to obey or to give in

📝 Defiant to the last, she refused to apologise for telling the truth.

📖 At her lowest, Flora turns defiant: she will not let her mother, or her own despair, take Ulysses from her without a fight.

To express deep sorrow or grief

📝 The old song seemed to lament a world that had long since vanished.

📖 The chapter is full of quiet lament — for lost time, for broken families, for all the love that went unspoken until now.