Guess the opening lines...

[kinkytoes]

Hi all, hope it's ok to start this here.

Thought it might be fun and stretch the old grey matter a bit.

I'll attach a shot of some opening lines and whoever guesses correctly post their own?

We could all just post pics but then we might lose track. I don't mind.

Let me know what you think (of the idea, and the opening lines here - hopefully started off with an easyish one but let me know if any clues are needed!)

If it's being done elsewhere please someone direct me 😊

Bridget Jones' Diary

merryhouse

Is that one of the Flashman books? I know what the event is of course.

It is, yes - At The Charge

Strange Sally Diamond.

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day

And
"We have never been very certain of my mother's age, for the simple reason that she can never remember her date of birth; all I can say is that she was old enough to have four children".

Yes indeed. The Luck of the Bodkins. I don't know the book but in a crowded field that's one my favourite Wodehouse quotes.

Sorry forgot to claim Jane Eyre for “There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.”

Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre and My Family and Other Animals.

Can people please quote what they're responding to?

Jane Eyre, I think.

Yes.

The Go-Between, L. P. Hartley.

Lucky Jim! One of my absolute favourites

"It was a wet Sunday afternoon in North Oxford at the beginning of October. The laurel bushes which bordered the path leading to Leamington Lodge, Banbury Road, were dripping with rain. A few sodden chrysanthemums, dahlias and zinnias drooped in the flower-beds on the lawn."

No! Not Kingsley Amis.

‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

’It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.’

:"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow".

1984

Spotted A Tale of Two Cities above.

This is from a short story.
It was a chill, rain-washed afternoon of a late August day, that indefinite season when partridges are still in security or cold storage, and there is nothing to hunt, unless one is bounded on the North by the Bristol Channel, in which case one may lawfully gallop after fat red stags.

And the photo is from a novel.

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”

Diary of a Nobody.

To Kill A Mockingbird.

Top marks 😁