This week I read The Magic of Ramblings by Kate Field and while I was still on page 1, I knew I was going to love the book. I tweeted about this and received responses from other readers, naming their own "wonderful page 1" books. So what is it that makes a great first page?
|
 | On page 1 of The Magic of Ramblings, Cassie finds a magazine advert for a "live-in companion... in isolated Lancashire village." I was thrown instantly into An Enchated April territory. An enticing advert about a place opens that book, too. Did my love of an old favourite spill over into my response to this new book?
Undoubtedly. But that on its own wouldn't be enough to create that special first page feeling. So what else was there?
Two things: an appealing heroine, and some intriguing questions. Who or what was she running from? Why had she had to leave her old life behind so completely that she can't even ask for references. |
And was the metion of Lancashire part of the magic? Probably. It's where I come from and it's a place I love.
Not that a familiar or much-loved location is an essential requirement for that special page 1. Take East End Angel by Carol Rivers, which is set in the East End. I have no ties to London, so the setting isn't what provides the page 1 guarantee of an unputdownable read.
|
In East End Angel, it's all about drama. Not drama on a big scale with lots of action, but drama in a concentrated, personal form, the drama of dilemma and emotion.
Page 1 sees Pearl at her wedding reception. Sounds like a happy occasion? It is... until her old flame turns up (and has she really got over him?) and guess what, his latest girlfriend is Pearl's younger sister, who has no intention of listening to big sister's dire warnings.
Roll all this together and you've got a gift-wrapped guarantee of secrets, dilemmas and complex relationships, all wrapped in a convoluted plot. Page 1 magic!
|  |
If East End Angel's page 1 appeal is plot-based, Miss Mapp's is pure character. I read the Mapp and Lucia books in order, so I didn't meet Miss Mapp until book 3. I loved the first two books but without loving the characters. I was fond of Georgie, but while I found Lucia interesting, I didn't like her much.
|
 | Then came Miss Mapp. On page 1, Elizabeth Mapp is introduced with words, "Anger and the gravest suspicions about everybody had kept her young and on the boil," and I adored her. er Lucia's condescending remoteness, Mi After Lucia's condescending remoteness, Miss Mapp promised snobbery and scheming - in other words, full-blown comedy. |
Miss Mapp remains one of my favourite books. I regularly listen to Prunella Scales' spirited and characterful reading of it. And I have never forgiven EF Benson for allowing Luica to move into Miss Mapp's beautiful Mallards.
So page 1 magic can spring from character, plot and/or question-hooks... and one more ingredient, which I am calling the immersive experience - the writer's ability to draw you completely into the world of the book. While many writers can achieve this over time in a novel, very few can do it right there on page 1.
|
| The Girl From Cobb Street by Merryn Allingham is an excellent example of this. Page 1 sees Daisy arriving in pre-War India and, such is the quality of Merryn's writing, the reader fully shares in Daisy's impressions, emotions and physical sensations. Writing in deep viewpoint is a great skill and Merryn has nailed it. Page 1 magic! |  |
Which books had you hooked from page 1? Do leave a comment and let me know. |
Make A Comment
Comments (8)
As for a book that had me hooked from the first page? One of my favourites, "The Blue Castle" by LM Montgomery. Plot, character, questions and world all in one.