Tuesday, September 23, 2014

First Paragraph -- French Leave

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
Yes, I'm still obsessed with France, even though my most recent novel takes place in the U.S.
Here's a novel by P.G. Wodehouse called French Leave about 3 American sisters who go on vacation in France, leaving behind their chicken farm on Long Island.
What?
A chicken farm on Long Island?
The print in this book is really small, though, so I  might have to break out my reading glasses for the first time for this one. Here's the intro:
If you search that portion of the state of New York known as Long Island with a sufficiently powerful magnifying glass,  you will find, tucked away on the shore of the Great South Bay, the tiny village of Bensonburg. Its air is bracing, its scenery picturesque, its society mixed. You get all sorts there -- the rich in their summer homes -- men like Russell Clutterbuck, the publisher -- and mingled with them the dregs or proletariat, the all-the-year-rounder-ers who have to scrape for a living. The Trent girls, daughters of the late Edgar Trent, the playwright, did their scraping in a small farm at the bottom of one of the lanes that led down to the water. 

9 comments:

Suzie Quint said...

I grew up with chickens. I'd leave them for Paris, too.

Mine is at http://suziequint.blogspot.com/

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I lived on a farm that, for a while, had chickens. LOL

I am intrigued by this one. Thanks for sharing...and here's mine: “HELLO FROM THE GILLESPIES”

Literary Feline said...

I like the sound of this one!

grammajudyb said...

The cover doesn't grab me, but the intro does. I'd read more.

Vagabonde said...

Long Island is beautiful – so many quaint little towns. I spent a vacation there and loved it. As for Paris, I am a bit tired of it because for the last 4 weeks I have been reading about its liberation in August 1944 – it was its 70th commemoration this year, and wrote about it at length. But thinking about Long Island is great.

Nise' said...

The chicken farm on Long Island would probably have me wanting to go to France too.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Curious for more - I like it, but the cover is odd.

kayerj said...

I'd keep going, I grew up on a farm too. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

Jeanie said...

I haven't read Wodehouse in years and this looks like a delightful one to pick up! Yes, I agree with those who say that they would swap chickens for Paris. Wouldn't we all?

Cockadoodle Doo or Cocorico?

 We stood in the middle of the road, having walked together 13 miles that day and Claudine grasped my forearm. "Mais non! It doesn'...