11 of the best ever opening lines
An enticing opening gambit is the best way to make an impression and hook your audience, but can you guess the books these first lines belong to? By NATALIE EVANS-HARDING
The line: “If you want to find Cherry-Tree Lane all you have to do is ask the Policeman at the cross-roads.”
The clue: The first in a series of novels, this book not only spawned beloved films about the character it introduced, but about the woman who wrote them, too.
The line: “When he was nearly 13, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”
The clue: The sequel to this novel was published 45 years after the initial book, though it was actually written before its famous predecessor.
The line: “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.”
The clue: The first – and only – opening line from a novel by this 20th-century feminist literary icon.
The line: “January: An Exceptionally Bad Start. Sunday 1 January. 129 lbs (but post-Christmas), alcohol units 14 (but effectively covers 2 days as 4 hours of party was on New Year), cigarettes 22, calories 5424.”
The clue: You don’t really need one, do you?
The line: “We slept in what had once been the gymnasium.”
The clue: So affecting is this dystopian book that it’s been adapted into a film, an opera and an eight-Emmy-winning TV series.
The line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
The clue: For the most famous opening line in literature? You don’t need a clue! Still? Well, this pithy opener belongs to the second novel of the Grand Dame of regency romcom.
The line: “I spent much of my childhood listening to the sound of striving.”
The clue: Setting new precedents for future FLOTUSes, this autobiography’s opening line reveals much of where her famous work ethic originates.
The line: “Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal. Thank you very much.”
The clue: The very beginning of a tale that spanned seven magical books and reinvented KidLit.
The line: “I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods.”
The clue: This book was made into one of the most enduring and stylish films of all time, featuring a true fashion icon in arguably her most memorable role.
The line: “Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!”
The clue: This isn’t the most famous of this prolific writer’s stories, but it contains some of his most genius advice.
The line: “The eleventh apartment had only one closet, but it did have a sliding glass door that opened onto a small balcony, from which he could see a man sitting across the way, outdoors in only a T-shirt and shorts even though it was October, smoking. Willem held up a hand in greeting to him, but the man didn’t wave back.”
The clue: From the critically acclaimed, 800-page whopper that was dubbed “the long-awaited great gay novel” upon its release in 2015.
THE ANSWERS
1. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. Travers was played by Emma Thompson in the film Saving Mr. Banks, which detailed Disney’s fight to gain her approval to make a film from her books, and her relationship with her own, much-loved alcoholic father who inspired elements of the character Mr Banks.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The author based the character of Atticus Finch on her father. As a lawyer, he once defended two African-American men accused of murder. He lost the case.
3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Plath’s first and only novel is soon to become a big-screen adaptation and Kirsten Dunst’s directorial debut.
4. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding. The author has said that she took inspiration from literary classic Pride and Prejudice when conceiving Bridget.
5. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. The prolific writer has announced plans to publish a sequel, The Testaments, this year.
6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Originally titled First Impressions, the lessons learnt by Elizabeth Bennet en route to finding love with Mr Darcy are so adored that Austen’s novel is thought to have sold over 20 million copies in the 200 years since publication.
7. Becoming by Michelle Obama. So hotly anticipated was the former First Lady’s memoir that it was released hot off the press in 24 languages, and broke the record in the US for the best-selling book of 2018 in just 15 days.
8. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling. Rowling has since become the first and only literary billionaire, despite the first book in her magical series being famously rejected by eight publishers at the outset.
9. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. In an early version of his book, Capote named his main character Connie Gustafson. Later he changed it to Holiday Golightly and eventually Holly Golightly.
10. Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. A former cartoonist and illustrator for Vanity Fair, Theodor Seuss Geisel went on to create more than 60 whimsical, educational and magical stories for children.
11. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this emotionally-wrought, seven-part tale was written at night around Yanagihara’s high-pressure day job editing T Magazine, the New York Times’ style supplement.