First Line Friday #33

The book I’m featuring today is “A Civil Contract” by Georgette Heyer who died in 1974. This author essentially established the historical romance genre and, in particular, regency romance. Since I’m in the process of editing the draft of my second regency romance, I wanted to read another book from the expert. Her writing style is different from authors today, but her books are a pleasure to read and there is much historical romance writers can learn from her novels. This book is not a Christian book, but it is a clean read, along the lines of Jane Austen.

And the first line is…

“The library at Fontley Priory, like most of the principal apartments in the sprawling building, looked to the south-east, commanding a prospect of informal gardens and a plantation of poplars, which acted as a wind-break and screened from view the monotony of the fen beyond.”

Now a days, writers are discouraged from starting a book with descriptive writing about the scenery. However, this sentence does give you a sample of the beauty of Heyer’s writing and her ability to create a scene through proper use of the English language. There is no denying she was a gifted writer and it’s clear why she was enjoyed by many.

Now it’s your turn. First Line Friday is something every reader can participate in. Pick up a book near you. Type the first line in the comments, along with the title of the book and the author. Then, if you’d like, check out the books other readers have featured in the comments on this blog and on the Hoarding Books link at the end of this post. You might find a book you would like to purchase simply by reading the first line. You can also click on the title of the book above and it will take you to Amazon so you can see what the featured book is about, check out the reviews other readers have shared, and purchase it if you’d like.