First I would like to say my apologies for not making it around to all of the blogs last week, especially those who commented here. I hope everyone saw my quick note about having gotten a concussion last Thursday and being unwell in the following couple days while the headaches and nausea did their work and finally subsided. I will be much more functional this weekend and make it around to see what first lines you've all chosen.
Happy Friday! it has been rainy all week and I am excited to do nothing this weekend except read and work on my book. Of course, I am trying to hack my way through my TBR list while still researching and writing about Eleanor of Aquitaine. A couple months ago I was incredibly lucky to have received a copy of my book for this week from Amberley Publishing. Unfortunately the file format was kind of wonky and I could not adjust the size of the words to read with ease. So naturally I did the next best thing: I submitted a purchase request to my public library and finally got my hands on the physical copy a couple weeks ago.
Totally. Worth. The. Wait.
I love Catherine. Truly, completely am in such awe of her strength and intelligence, and how she held fast to the title that was rightfully hers, Queen of England. She did, after all, learn from her mother - the indomitable Isabella of Castile and it is tragic and heartbreaking not only that Catherine and Mary were separated after Henry's break with Rome and subsequent marriage to the Concubine (Chapuys' words, not mine), but that even in illness and the face of death, they were never allowed to see one another again.
This week's first line is actually three sentences, because I do what I want:
"This story begins with a map. A map that depicts a world that no longer exists; a map painted on paper that has itself disappeared - burned, lost, drenched or reused at some point in more than five hundred intervening years."
Leave a comment below about my line or feel free to share one of your own. Then take a look at what my fellow First-Liners have for you this week.
Bree - Bibliophile Reviews
Rachel - Bookworm Mama
Heather - Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen
Beth - Faithfully Bookish
Katie - Fiction Aficionado
Lauraine - Lauraine's Notes
Andi - Radiant Light
Carrie - Reading is my SuperPower
Robin - Robin's Nest
Sydney - Singing Librarian
Kathleen - Kathleen Denly
Amanda - With a Joyful Noise
Jessica - A Baker's Perspective
Happy Friday and Happy Reading!
Sarah
She was a strong resolute woman who was appallingly treated by Henry in those later years. You do have to admire her. A lot of women might have taken the easy way to continue with their standard of living but her faith and her daughter's birthright were more important to her than her own comfort. You have to admire that.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! She knew what she and Mary deserved and what belonged to them rightfully. Having a daughter myself, I can not begin to imagine being apart like that. I have also read some rather interesting books which endlessly try to figure out why Henry changed so drastically over time; I personally believe that he always had that cruelty in him, but it did not rear its ugly head until he truly started seeing his authority challenged. He treated both mother and daughter terribly as a result. While medical theories are fun, it is nearly impossible to apply a diagnosis from 2017.
DeleteAt least she kept her head! Speaking of which, I'm glad you've recovered well. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, quite true. But Henry would have had a war on his hands he could not possibly hope to win had she gone the way first that Anne and Catherine did after her. I don't believe that Charles V would have stayed on the sidelines for that.
DeleteI'm going to look at this book on Amazon. You post the most interesting books!
ReplyDeleteMy first line is from For the Love of Grace by Kimberly Rae Jordan
“Grace Anderson stared straight ahead at the white wall of a small hospital room.”
Thank you Becky! I've plenty more Eleanor books to quote from, but I just had to showcase this one, it is fantastic. Amy Licence is such a great writer and it is an easy book to get lost in for hours. Happy Friday!
DeleteOkay, I feel kind of dumb asking this, but I am completely unfamiliar with Google+, do you have a blog where you post a FLF also and am I just somehow missing it?
DeletePrologue
ReplyDeleteDublin, Ireland, 1916
She heard it before she felt it. Harsh air sucking through clenched teeth, the grunt of an arm raised, the soft swish of a hand slicing the air. - A HEART REVEALED by Julie Lessman
Happy Friday and Happy Reading!
Hi Caryl, thank you for coming by and sharing your line! I hope you have a wonderful, book-filled weekend :)
DeleteOkay so I have to ask you the same thing that I asked Becky: do you have a blog where you participate in FLF also? I don't know if I am technologically challenged or what, just wondering :)
DeleteI hope you continue to fell better!
ReplyDeleteThat is such an amazing first line!! I'm in love with it!
Thank you Amanda, I really appreciate that. Today is the first day I have not taken any Aleve for a headache, which is a far cry from LAST Friday when even two Aleve did not do anything to help the pain.
DeleteI'm glad you like the line, I very nearly included the whole first paragraph. The book is lovely and Amy Licence is a fantastic historian. I find myself in love with many lines in this book :)
I'm starting The Memory of You by Catherine West today!
ReplyDeleteThe wood-paneled walls of the boardroom were closing in.
Ooooh, something dreadful must be about to happen, and all in the first line. What happens next??
DeleteFrom My Heart Belongs in the Superstition Mountains: Carmela’s Quandary by Susan Page Davis
ReplyDeleteYou get out there, and I mean now.
Hi Kay, thanks for coming by and sharing your line with me. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and read a good book or four :)
DeleteDo you have a blog where you also post FLFs? Just wondering, I am so unfamiliar with Google+.
DeleteOh my goodness...get well soon!
ReplyDeleteThank you Heather! I was able to stay at work all of Tuesday and then the rest of the week. I stupidly tried to go to school Monday but I could already kind of tell during the drive I was not going to last. Then once I had all my students and we were in class, I was still very nauseated and headachey. But today is the first day I have not needed any Aleve, and I am quite happy to be on the mend.
DeleteYikes! I had no idea! Feel better!
ReplyDeleteI love Catherine! Happy Friday!
Thank you Andie - It happened last Thursday, a student was trying to hit another student and hit me on the back of my neck/head accidentally. I was headachey but it was not until Friday morning that I was in a lot of pain and nauseated so I went to the doctor and she confirmed it was a mild concussion. Even had a CT scan to be safe. Luckily I am feeling much better a week on.
DeleteCatherine is by far my most favorite of all of the women unlucky enough to marry Henry. I'm not even done with the book yet and I so highly recommend it. It's wonderful. Happy Friday!
My first line is:
ReplyDelete“Lucy knew she was going to regret this.”
~Love, Lies & Typewriters: A Wartime Western Romance Novella
by Heather Blanton
That was a good book!
DeleteThank you for stopping by to share your line with me. What does Lucy end up regretting?? Happy Friday!
DeleteGlad you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteMy first encounter with light as more than illumination from a flashlight was on our homestead in Alaska at age five.
Introduction to Who Told You That You Were Naked by William E Combs
Hi Anne, thank you. I am also glad to be getting better. it is hard to teach all day and wrangle my own busy 3 1/2 year old when I am not in tip-top form. Thank you for sharing your line with me, Happy Friday!
DeleteDo you have a blog also?
DeleteConcussions are nothing to sneeze at. I'm glad you are getting better. My first line is “An angel of light stood before me, blonde, beautiful, one hand behind his back.” From Widow by Denise Weimer.
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie, thank you for coming by!
DeleteConcussions are definitely no joke. I have been lucky that I have only ever had two and they've been considered mild. But if these are mild, then yikes! I'd hate to have one worse than that because they were both awful. Thanks for sharing your line with me, Happy Friday!
Do you have a blog also? I am Google+ challenged :-/
DeleteGlad you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteMy first line is from The Viscount’s Proposal by Melanie Dickerson
May 1813
Was this the night she would actually die of tedium, triviality, and hypocrisy?
Hi Andrea, thank you for sharing your line with me! I am glad to be getting better too, being so out of sorts is not fun at all. Someone shared this line a few weeks ago and I still have not found out why she thought she would die of any of those things, please let me know :) Happy Friday!
DeleteLove the quote. Here's mine:"Don't say something permanently painful just because you're temporarily ticked off." It's from a book called "Keep It Shut". I say things I shouldn't a lot so I'm all about listening to others advice. ;)
ReplyDeleteHeya Victoria...oh who are we kidding, I don't think I have ever called you Victoria in all the time we have known each other ;)
DeleteI LOVE your line. I need desperately to remember it - especially when dealing with certain people who make me so angry that I am certain my head will explode. We can have a club for people who just can't keep their mouths shut at the appropriate times :)
I'm already part of that club, but we're always accepting new members. :P
DeleteI am pretty sure I actually FOUNDED that club :p
DeleteWhat a neat opening line!! Hope you feel better soon :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Jessica, I am feeling so much better a week removed from it. This book is so full of lovely lines, it was hard to choose which one I wanted to use. Happy Friday!
DeleteOh goodness! I hope you are doing better! Catherine!!!! <3
ReplyDeleteI am doing much, much better Rachel - thank you! And yes, Catherine <3 She is my favorite of all of Henry's unfortunate wives.
DeleteLove the cover!
ReplyDeleteHere's my first line:
"Bernadette had been dead two weeks when her sisters showed up in Doyle's living room asking for the statue back." - Run by Ann Patchett.
Dinh@ArlenesBookClub.com
Hi Dinh, thank you for coming by and sharing your line with me! I am such a stickler for covers and I love this one also. It catches the eye right away. Happy Reading!
DeleteFrom Sunset in Old Savannah by Mary Ellis:
ReplyDeleteIf ever there was a perfect time for Beth Kirby to get out of town, it was now.
Hi Dianne, thank you for sharing your line with me! I am very intrigued as to why this person has to get out of town so quickly!
DeleteFrom Sunset in Old Savannah by Mary Ellis:
ReplyDeleteIf ever there was a perfect time for Beth Kirby to get out of town, it was now.