It was very hard to choose these five opening lines – I could have chosen another five altogether! Would anyone like to add some more?
- “Ennis Del Mar wakes before five, wind rocking the trailer, hissing in around the aluminium door and window frames.” Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx.
- “All night long he would walk the ship, from bow to stern, from dusk until quarterlight, that sticklike limping man from Connemara with the drooping shoulders and ash-coloured clothes.” Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor.
- “While I was still in Amsterdam, I dreamed about my mother for the first time in years.” The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
- “‘All good things must end,’ said Frances Price.” French Exit by Patrick de Witt.
- “It was love at first sight”. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.