As an avid reader, I know there are lines that make you sit up and pay attention, make your heart race (or melt), and those that just plain make you turn the page. Those lines are only words but somehow strung together in just the right way and in just the right place. When I come across them, I’m awed. Did the author know how smart, how meaningful that was?
Everyone’s favorites are not the same. That’s okay. Sometimes our favorite lines are the classics and many are from modern times. Don’t we all know someone who can quote line after line from Harry Potter? My own favorite lines are all over the place, but the one I’ve never forgotten comes from one of my all-time favorite books, REBECCA. Daphne du Maurier built suspense slowly and so deliciously that you just had to know what would happen to Maxim and the new Mrs. de Winter. Why was Mrs. Danvers so mean? What was it about Rebecca? What happened to her?
I was drawn in on the very first page with that unforgettable first line. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” The voice is somber and sweet and slightly unsure and the dream isn’t beautiful at all. With those few words, the reader is compelled to turn the page, to know what happens, to learn how it ends.
Today, I’m celebrating my own favorite line and will be sure to share many more in the Fridays ahead. What are some of your favorite lines?