Memories and the Past Quotes in Life After Life

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"Quite Jamesian, really," she heard Teddy say. (Had he said that?) (22.178)

In one of her last moments before death, Ursula is "remembering" something that Teddy said in a previous life, the one in which she was beaten to death by her abusive husband at the end of Chapter 20.

Quote #5

It was like an echo, or rather the opposite of an echo. An echo came afterward, but was there a word for what came before? (23.10)

It seems like that word would be "déjà vu." Okay, it's two words, but this is a concept often discussed in the book, and we think it fits the feeling Ursula is having here.

Quote #6

Most people muddled through events and only in retrospect realized their significance. (24.114)

Ursula is living her whole life in retrospect. With a memory of how past lives went, she can do her best to change things and affect the future.