By Eithne Cullen
It’s great to be starting the New Year with the theme of Beginnings And Endings, and my January page is, naturally, looking at beginnings.
Some of you may know I love a quiz. There’s a round I particularly like to show off in and that’s the opening lines of books. Have a go yourself:
- All children, except one, grow up.
- It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
- It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
In case you need the answers, they are: Peter Pan, Pride And Prejudice and 1984.
Opening lines of books and stories are so important; they grab the reader’s attention and keep them reading from the start. So, I thought I’d ask our talented Pen to Print writers to share some of their opening lines with us.
Firstly, I’m sharing the opening sentences of Sweethearts Of Ilford Lane from Farzana Hakim. Just by coincidence, they celebrate the New Year, so it’s a good place to share them here:
“Ten, nine, eight,” cheered the crowd, eager for the remaining seconds to move on as they danced and laughed their way into the New Year.
I observed with a cup of frothy chocolate and my feet clad cosily in fluffy socks. The BBC guy on the telly screamed, “Three, two, one,” and the flat screen became a canvas of colourful glitter and noise.
“Happy New Year…”
© Farzana Hakim, 2019
Connect with Farzana on X: @farzanahakim and Facebook: @farzanahakimauthor
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The next openings are from Claire Buss, who not only sends her words but also a link to a sea shanty you can listen to:
He, or very possibly she, was known as The Rose Thief.
From The Rose Thief.
“We shouldn’t have left them,” muttered Kira as she looked out of the plane window.
From The Gaia Solution.
And something a little bit different… The Bone Thief opens with a sea shanty, which Claire recorded and put on YouTube: