Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

   

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring a book that has been sitting patiently on my shelves, As She Left It by Catriona McPherson. The excerpts shared are from a book I purchased a while ago.

Beginning:  21 July 2010  Tuesday

It's all connected. Everything's joined to everything. You think you can keep things out of your head, if you concentrate hard. You think your brain's in charge. And then blammo! From nowhere, one little thread starts to fray, one little rock gets lifted, and the light shines in. That's when you know it's your blood that runs the show. Your bowels. Your guts and your glands. When you're shaking so hard you can't talk and you're breathing so fast you can't think and all of your careful stories have been blown away.

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Page 56:  She followed it out into the passage and along to the back of the house and the attic stairs, then climbed them as quietly as she could. She didn't know whether her ears were getting attuned or if she was really getting closer.

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My thoughts:  The cover, opening lines, and excerpt are all rather ominous. I'm in the mood for a mysterious, atmospheric read and this book is calling to me.

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From Goodreads:  When she was twelve years old, Opal Jones escaped her mother's endless drinking. Now, returning to their small Leeds cottage after her mum's death, Opal feels like she's gone back in time. Nosey Mrs. Pickess is still polishing her windows to a sparkle. Fishbo, Opal's ancient music teacher, still plays trumpet with his band. And much to Opal's delight, her favorite neighbor, Margaret Reid, still keeps an eye on things from the walk in front of her house.

But a tragedy has struck Mote Street. Margaret's grandson, Craig, disappeared some ten years ago, and every day he's not found, shame and sorrow settle deeper into the neighborhood's forgotten corners. As the door she closed on her own dark past begins to open, Opal uncovers more secrets than she can bear about the people who were once her friends.

 

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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without a