{"id":3360,"date":"2026-07-07T20:17:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3360"},"modified":"2026-07-07T20:17:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:17:48","slug":"this-books-first-sentence-blew-me-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3360","title":{"rendered":"This Book’s First Sentence Blew Me Away"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Joanna<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite first line in a book? First, here are a few famous ones\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.\u201d \u2014 Pride & Prejudice<\/em> by Jane Austen (can\u2019t wait for the new series<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first decade of the twentieth century was not a good time to be born black and female in Stamps, Arkansas.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Mom & Me & Mom<\/em> by Maya Angelou<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Waiting<\/em> by Ha Jin<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you really want to hear about it, the first thing you\u2019ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don\u2019t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.\u201d \u2014 The Catcher in the Rye<\/em> by J.D. Salinger<\/p>\n

\u201cAll children, except one, grow up.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Peter Pan<\/em> by J.M. Barrie<\/p>\n

\"lion<\/p>\n

Well, the other day, I was reading Lion<\/em><\/a> by Sonya Walger. In her autobiographical novel \u2014\u00a0which she describes as \u201ca work of fiction where everything really happened\u201d \u2014 she explores her complicated relationship with her charismatic father, who also happens to be a skydiver, cocaine addict, ex-con, polo player, pilot, and race-car driver. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to compete with adrenalin when you are a child,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The whole novel was stunning \u2014\u00a0like page-turning poetry \u2014 but what struck me most was her opening line, when Walger gives a nod to her mother:<\/p>\n

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But how hard to be the one who stayed!<\/strong> The one who packed the raisins but not the nuts, who wiped the lipstick off the piano teacher\u2019s mug, tissue-wrapped the Christmas ornaments, washed the sheets, staunched the blood, ignored the lies and the slammed doors, peeled the stickers off the walls, fought for sunscreen and table manners, made beds, combed out the lice, stapled the hems and later sewed them, kissed the friends, befriended the lovers, returned the books, loaned the car, the house, the denim jacket with the Liberty lining, combed out the lice, listened to the story tape jammed in the car stereo, held back the hair bent over the loo, paid the school fees, paid the tennis coach, paid the airfare, combed out the lice, pushed the swings, paired the socks, allowed the cigarettes, forbade unkindness, packed the trunk, renewed the passports, taught the second tongue, recited the alphabet, churned the ice cream, bought the brads, the Walkman, the wedding dress, learned the names and never forgot them, shared the crossword, the towel, the chewed gum.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How incredible is that? \u201cBut how hard to be the one who stayed!\u201d I think many mothers, in some way, can relate.<\/p>\n

\"Joanna<\/p>\n

Thoughts? What books have you loved lately? Here\u2019s my ongoing list<\/a>, if you\u2019re looking for recs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. Three great books<\/a>, a charming book for summer<\/a>, and the darkly funny novel I can\u2019t stop thinking about<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t<\/p>\n

18<\/span> COMMENTS<\/p>\n

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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s your favorite first line in a book? 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