Tuesday, February 16, 2021

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - A Girl Returned; Donatella DiPietrantonio

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book ReviewsEach week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book they are reading or that they plan to read soon.

                                                      A Girl Returned; Donatella Di Pietrantonio
                                                                  Europa Editions - 2019 - 170 pp
                                                   (Translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein)

1.

"I was thirteen, yet I didn't know my other mother.

I struggled up the stairs to her apartment with an unwieldy suitcase and a bag of jumbled shoes.  On the landing I was greeted by the smell of recent frying and a wait.  The door wouldn't open: someone was shaking it wordlessly on the inside and fussing with the lock.  I watched a spider wriggle in the empty space, hanging at the end of its thread.

There was a metallic click, and a girl with loose braids that hadn't been done for several days appeared.  She was my sister, but I had never seen her.  She opened the door wide so I could come in, keeping her sharp eyes on me.  We looked like each other then, more than we do as adults."

What do you think - read more or pass?

13 comments:

  1. I'd keep reading, I want to know why she had never met her mother or sister.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would keep reading too, there's a story there!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am pulled in by the moments before the sisters meet each other. A book I think I would love. Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: “FORGIVE ME”

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting beginning. Thanks for this update.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the descriptiveness of the opening. I've liked reading other books published by Europa, so I'd definitely give this one a go.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This sounds so interesting. I'd read on!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'd definitely read on at least until I found out more about why this was the first time they were seeing each other...and where the book was headed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It is intriguing. I'd want to see what happened.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would keep reading. You grabbed my interest.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'd keep reading, too. Seems that all of us are curious. Like Sam, I'd read at least until I found out more.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well, I'm curious! keep going. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and double thanks for any comments. If you ask a question in your comments, I will try to reply to it here, or by email if your settings allow me to do so. Thanks again for visiting.