Novel first lines that draw you in
Every good writer knows that ‘firsts’ matter. The first line of the book. The first paragraph of the book. The first chapter of the book. The first book itself.
Recently, writers have been abuzz with talk of their favourite first lines in literature. In the US, Atlantic magazine asked some notable authors for the lines that most grab them, and in the UK, the Guardian newspaper followed suit with the writers on the Man Booker Prize longlist.
The first lines picked by the authors are certainly intriguing, serving the purpose of the that line, which is to hook the reader’s attention and make him or her want to read on. They are memorable lines; as the Guardian article puts it, ‘It’s the writer’s job to be quotable.’ But it is impossible not to note the complete absence in both lists of opening lines from romantic fiction.
So I was inspired to write a post today offering some first lines from the romance genre:
1801 – I have just returned from a visit to my landlord – the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Ashley Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn was born in a camp near the crest of a pass in the Himalayas, and subsequently christened in a patent canvas bucket. MM Kaye, The Far Pavilions
I’d never given much thought to how I would die — though I’d had reason enough in the last few months — but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. Stephenie Meyer, Twilight
No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. Margaret Mitchell, Gone With The Wind
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
Matrimony. The very word was menacing. Nicole Jordan, To Pleasure a Lady
I was astonished to discover, while researching, just how many of these openings grab the attention, but not necessarily the heart, as I endeavoured to do with the opening of my debut novel Burning Embers, for example:
Coral Sinclair was twenty-five, and this should have been her wedding night. Instead, she watched a full moon sweep the Indian Ocean with silvery beams as a silent ship carried her through the night, its path untroubled by the rolling swell.
Do you have a favourite opening line in literature? Is it Jane Austen’s oft-quoted ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife’ (Pride and Prejudice)? I’d be delighted to hear of your best (and worst) first lines.
If you feel passionate about this subject, keep an eye on the http://www.rtbookreviews.com: RT Book Reviews sometimes runs contests in which you can vote for the best opening and ending text of a novel. On the subject of endings, I’ll leave you with my own for Burning Embers:
And mutually, silently, they vowed never to let go.
