Welcome to some bookish fun today as we share Book Beginnings, hosted by Rose City Reader; and as we showcase The Friday 56 with Freda’s Voice.
To join in, just grab a book and share the opening lines…along with any thoughts you wish to give us; then turn to page 56 and excerpt anything on the page.
Then give us the title of the book, so others can add it to their lists!
If you have been wanting to participate, but haven’t yet tried, now is the time!
What better way to spend a Friday?
Today’s feature is a book that has been in my pile for a while: The Woman Upstairs, by Claire Messud.
Beginning: How angry am I? You don’t want to know. Nobody wants to know about that.
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56: It was the fortune cookie that felled my mother. Mine said simply “Hallelujah!,” and Matt’s promised, “A short vacation is in order for you.”
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Blurb: Nora Eldridge, an elementary school teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts, long ago compromised her dream to be a successful artist, mother and lover. She has instead become the “woman upstairs,” a reliable friend and neighbor always on the fringe of others’ achievements. Then into her life arrives the glamorous and cosmopolitan Shahids—her new student Reza Shahid, a child who enchants as if from a fairy tale, and his parents: Skandar, a dashing Lebanese professor who has come to Boston for a fellowship at Harvard, and Sirena, an effortlessly alluring Italian artist.
When Reza is attacked by schoolyard bullies, Nora is drawn deep into the complex world of the Shahid family; she finds herself falling in love with them, separately and together. Nora’s happiness explodes her boundaries, and she discovers in herself an unprecedented ferocity—one that puts her beliefs and her sense of self at stake.
Told with urgency, intimacy and piercing emotion, this brilliant novel of passion and artistic fulfillment explores the intensity, thrill—and the devastating cost—of embracing an authentic life.
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What do you think? Do the excerpts capture your interest? Would you keep reading?
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RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS 
Sounds like a good read. I can relate to the beginning being someone with a bad temper.
I added you to the Linky! Happy weekend!
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Yes, so can I, Freda, and thanks for adding me to the Linky. Enjoy your book!
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This does sound very good. The beginning definitely caught my eye! 🙂
Check out my 56 (With Book Beginnings).
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Yes, I like that beginning, too, Lauren; thanks for stopping by!
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Sounds like an intense read, something I myself might be drawn to. I hope you enjoy it!
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Thanks, Daphne, and I hope to enjoy it. Glad you could stop by!
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First, I’m sorry to be off topic, but I live in Yorkshire and your cat is almost identical to mine! I say almost because they really can’t be twins can they at that distance? lol. Seriously, even the facial markings… it’s quite uncanny. Mine’s a boy called Shuffles 🙂 because he likes to lay on his back and shuffle about a lot when he’s outside ha ha.
I love your BB, you always know when someone’s really angry when they say, “you don’t want to know”.
Have a great day,
Amy x
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Thanks, I like the beginning, too, and the cat photo is one I found on Pinterest…I don’t know much about it…LOL. Glad you could stop by, Amy.
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lmao, maybe that’s where he’s been going when he’s not home! Either way I love looking at your cat photos when I drop by 🙂 They always make me smile x
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The fortune cookie quote got me. I’m assuming the mother’s wasn’t positive!
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Yes, now I am curious about the mother’s fortune cookie…LOL. Thanks for stopping by, Elizabeth.
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Sounds interesting, not sure it’s for me though.
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Thanks, Liza, and no worries! Glad you could stop by.
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I’ve heard of this one but don’t know much about it. I love the 56 about the fortune cookie. I wonder what her mother’s said!
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Me, too, Katherine…thanks for stopping by!
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The title and cover made me think at first this was going to be a scary story, but then I read the 56 and blurb and realized I was very wrong
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Yes, I thought so, too, Alicia…thanks for stopping by.
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This sounds interesting. I’m going to add it to my list.
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Thanks, Yvonne, glad you enjoyed it, and I’m glad you could stop by.
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Love the 56 and beginning. The blurb caught my attention as well. Sounds like a good book!
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I am looking forward to it, Vicki…thanks for stopping by.
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I’m wondering how the fortunes affected them all. Sounds like a fun one.
My 56 – http://fuonlyknew.com/2015/05/22/the-friday-56-62-chasing-the-green-fairy/
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Yes, I am curious too, Laura….glad you could stop by.
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