Authors J.B. Stevens and Sulari Gentill discuss the opening for historical thriller The Woman In The Library.
The First Line is a recurring column by J.B. Stevens. Mystery Tribune readers (you) get an inside look at what goes through the author’s mind as they craft their opening.
For the column, an author presents the initial sentence of their story. Then J.B. writes his impression of the passage. Next, the author discusses what their intent was with the line. To keep it interesting, J.B. writes his section before looking at the author’s description. Finally, you decide: Did the author achieve their goal?
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Today we have The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill. This novel will be released on June 7th, 2022 from Poisoned Pen Press.
Dear Hannah, What are you writing?
J.B.’s thoughts:
This is a short one, I think it is the shortest I’ve come across for the column. I like the brevity, but it is so short that I’m having a hard time getting much out of it. I wonder who Hannah is, and I wonder what she is writing. The format tells me it is probably an epistolary book, which is a challenging format. I do enjoy the style when it is done well. The actual question “What are you writing?” Tells me they know one another fairly well, as the author knows that Hannah is writing… something.
This creates a few simple questions and (maybe) gives a hint about the style. A solid, functional, opener.
The author’s explanation:
The first line of THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY declares not only the epistolary nature of the novel but the relationship between the correspondents. The salutation is simple and traditional—an iconic and familiar opening to a letter. It’s followed with a question—not “How are you?” but “What are you writing?” And we know that this is an exchange between writers.
Immediately there is an intimacy and a trust. The letter’s author knows or assumes that Hannah is writing, the question is just, what? I hoped that by opening this way I would establish both the premise of the novel, and its motif, in the same way that “Who’s there?” is the both the first line and prevailing question in Hamlet.
I do also like the simplicity of the opening, the direct informality of the language. Six words which speak to and of the entire novel. The question of what Hannah is writing is the subject of the correspondence between her and Leo, the answer to which is the story that unfolds between the letters.
J.B.’s response:
I got most of what the author was going for, I didn’t know the letter’s author was a writer, it thought it could be a friend or business associate (agent?) asking about the status of the work. I like this opening, but I don’t love it. It is so simple that it didn’t really draw me in. With that said, it wouldn’t turn me off either. I’d read more.
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About The Book
The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained.
While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who’d happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.
