Opening Lines Competition - Results!

Every author wants to hook their readers from the get-go and a killer opening line is the way to do that. Our competition, in partnership with London Lit Lab, received so many incredible entries, reminding us of the many ways in which an author can demand a reader's attention. 

Read our winner and a selection of our favourite entries below!

WINNER

'Shhh...Listen! Thats's my Book, and it's talking to you. Can you hear it?

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki 

In just a few words, I knew I was in for something surprising and unique. The capital B for book immediate makes it a character and the question draws you in so you become part of the reading experience. It reminded me of being a child when I told my mother that my book, The Secret Garden, was my best friend. These opening lines might have surprised the adult me, but wouldn't have felt amiss to the childhood me.
Clare Shaw
 

Congratulations to Clare who wins a bundle of fiction and non-fiction books, including Folk, Mischief Acts, and Sins of My Father: A Daughter, A Cult, A Wild Unravelling, a place at one of London Lit Lab’s upcoming Live Online masterclasses, a place at one of W&A’s masterclasses, and a bundle of creative writing guides, including Lucy van Smit’s A Writer’s Journal Workbook and the W&A Guide to How to Write.

Take a look at more of our favourite entries below!

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'Leonard was raised by his mother alone with cheerfully concealed difficulty, his father having died tragically during childbirth.'

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession

I love its gentle charm and the way it sets the tone for the whole book.  It leaves me wondering exactly what effect this awful start in life will have on Leonard, but somehow knowing from the start that he'll be alright. The confluence of tragedy, humour and understatement distills a whole culture so perfectly. It comes across as effortlessly written, but probably took hours to create. Having said all that, the honest reason is simply that it made me laugh.  Josh Selfe
 

'Before my wife turned vegetarian, I'd always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way.'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

For me, this is a perfect opening line. It so well leads the reader into the mysterious unfoldings in the life of the main character, triggered by the simple act of becoming vegetarian. It is hooking and powerful, and deceptively innocuous. And it gives us a flavour of this strange and beautifully written novella where the straightforwardness and simplicity of what's on the surface is easily broken to enter the more complicated and mysterious space of the character's internal worlds.
Rayna Haralambieva
 

'They shoot the white girl first.'

Paradise by Toni Morrison 

Startling opening line, because it's far from the paradise the reader expects from the book title. Someone is shooting girls and choosing them by colour. Why? In a time where diversity is beginning to count post the murder of George Floyd, more now than ever before, and all that's transpired with tensions over what identity means and our collective and individual sense of belonging, this opening line strikes a chord for our times. The line asks us to immediately consider the safety of a girl and her race. How many girls will follow? Who is doing the shooting, and why? Does this reflect the society the reader is about to enter or is this a shocking one-off? In six words, Toni Morrison clutches our throats and does not let go....
Rohan Kar

'For my eighteenth birthday, Father promised me the hand of a handsome young man, which he duly delivered mounted in a glass bell-jar.'

The Coroner's Daughter by Andrew Hughes

This is my favourite opening line as it subverts expectations with such delicious dark humour. It is a masterfully pithy way of letting the reader know that they are in an adventure narrated by an unusual young woman with the wit and intelligence to defy societal expectations.
Carrie Madden

'When the police apprehended me I was still carrying the book I'd stolen from the Oxfam bookshop in Chipping Norton, a pretty Cotswold town where I'd been addressing a reading group.'

Zoo Time by Howard Jacobson

Is the narrator the lowest form of common thief, someone who steals from OXFAM? And yet he had been addressing a reading group; as what? An illustrious author? Or the speaker in a True Crime confessional? Entitled, Easy targets for the morally vacuous, perhaps? I had to read on!
Jenny Howard

Thank you to everyone who entered! Keep your eyes peeled on our Competitions page for more exciting competitions and prizes!