In her first novel, it took her two lines to kill off the heroine:
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." -- The Lovely Bones
What great first lines! They draw you into the novel right away.
In her newest novel The Almost Moon, Sebold gets to murder within the very first line:
"When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily."
Another great first line. It juxtaposes a cliche (when all is said and done) with a simple statement of murder. Incredibly dramatic in an understated way.
Would you continue reading if you had read these opening lines?
How does your book (fiction or nonfiction) stack up in drawing readers into your book?
