First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #95

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring the opening from a book I borrowed from the library . . .

 

The Body in the Transept by Jeanne M. Dams 

 1

I was struggling against more than wind and rain that night as I battled through the Cathedral Close, but I blamed my mood on the weather.  This was not my idea of a proper English Christmas.  The air ought to shiver in a frosty stillness broken only by church bells chiming with the peculiar clarity of sound carried on intensely cold air.  The sweet piping of young carolers should catch at the throat.  My mind's eye costumed the carolers in crinolines and fur muffs, greatcoats and stovepipe hats, and set them beside a gas streetlamp, gently falling snow sparkling in the soft amber light . . .

As I wandered happily in my nineteenth-century fantasy, I slipped on a wet, irregular paving stone and was rudely returned to reality.  There were bells, to be sure, pealing away in cheerful discord.  But the path was lit (more or less) by electricity, faint diesel fumes perfumed the air, and neat black-and-white plastic signs pointed my way.  Not even the great medieval cathedral, looming out of the stinging rain, could transcend the twentieth century entirely; she wore an ugly modern veil of scaffolding over part of her ancient, crumbling face. 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?  

 

What are you reading now or planning to read soon?

 

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #95 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.