Thanks to everyone who took part in my historical fiction first lines quiz last weekend. As promised, here are the answers:
1. I was down in Surrey, on business for Lord Cromwell’s office, when the summons came.
Dissolution by CJ Sansom
2. It wasn’t a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance.
Outlander/Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
3. His children are falling from the sky.
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
4. Ashton Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn was born in a camp near the crest of a pass in the Himalayas, and subsequently christened in a patent canvas bucket.
The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye
5. He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.
Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
6. When the east wind blows up Helford river the shining waters become troubled and disturbed and the little waves beat angrily upon the sandy shores.
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier
7. On the step of her new husband’s home, Nella Oortman lifts and drops the dolphin knocker, embarrassed by the thud.
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
8. Richard did not become frightened until darkness began to settle over the woods.
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman
9. On the first Monday of the month of April, 1625, the market town of Meung, in which the author of Romance of the Rose was born, appeared to be in as perfect a state of revolution as if the Huguenots had just made a second La Rochelle of it.
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
10. The method of laying out a corpse in Missouri sure took the proverbial cake.
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
11. My father is Sir Richard Woodville, Baron Rivers, an English nobleman, a landholder, and a supporter of the true Kings of England, the Lancastrian line.
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
12. When the year one thousand came, Thorkel Amundason was five years old, and hardly noticed how frightened everyone was.
King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett
13. In that pleasant district of merry England which is watered by the river Don, there extended in ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part of the beautiful hills and valleys which lie between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doncaster.
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
14. In the tender green time of April, Katherine set forth at last upon her journey with the two nuns and the royal messenger.
Katherine by Anya Seton
15. At half past six on the twenty-first of June 1922, when Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov was escorted through the gates of the Kremlin onto Red Square, it was glorious and cool.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
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I hope you all had fun with the quiz. I think every book apart from The Three Musketeers and Days Without End was correctly guessed by at least one person. Well done everyone!
She Reads Novels 
Although I have read all of these books, I only knew one and could guess one other. I guess I don’t have a good memory for first lines.
Actually, I knew two now that I look at it again.
I probably wouldn’t have known all of these myself if I hadn’t looked them up before posting the quiz. 🙂
Ha ha ha!
No one guessed “The Three Musketeers”? That is so sad. I would not have guessed it either, but I want to re-read it now. Great quiz, thank you!
I was surprised no one guessed The Three Musketeers, but maybe it’s not a very memorable first line. I’m glad you liked the quiz!
Helen, this was a great quiz. I am pretty gutted I didn’t get Frenchmen’s Creek and The Three Musketeers, but the two answers I gave: The Miniaturist and The White Queen were correct, so I am taking that as a win! 😀
Yes, well done for getting two right!
Thank you 🙂
I’ve just gone back to look at the original quiz and confess that I couldn’t answer any! (Though it was a very quick look!) I would have right on Frenchman’s Creek had I not talked myself out of it! What a good diea to have the quiz, Helen 😊
I think the quiz turned out to be a bit harder than I’d intended it to be! I’m glad you liked the idea, anyway. 🙂
Ah, right. The ones I guessed were correct, but I should have got Ivanhoe. My only excuse is that it is at least 20 years since I read it, and I was probably too young at the time to fully enjoy it.
I think Ivanhoe was a hard one to get from that first line. Well done for guessing some of the others correctly, though. 🙂
Ha! One out of fifteen – I didn’t even get the other two or three I’ve actually read! I’m duly ashamed but will console myself with chocolate… 😀
It seems the quiz was a bit more difficult than I’d meant it to be. I think a lot of people will have to console themselves with chocolate! 🙂
It WAS fun Helen. And I have resolved (once again) to go back to the beginning of each book as soon as I have finished it and read the first sentence! It is like tying a bow, seeing how the first sentence connects with the last. I imagine most authors pay attention to both!
That’s a good idea, Judy – I should try to do that too.