Some people used to tell this story as though it were an unhappy love affair, saying that his heart had somehow gazed directly into hers, and that he’d fallen in love with the sweet-natured angel he saw inside her, despite her repulsive face. But no, it was nothing of the sort—that first night after meeting her he simply couldn’t stop imagining what it would be like to make love to such a creature, to kiss her and undress her.
Olga Tokarczuk, “The Ugliest Woman in the World”