Amanda Peters has said that the opening line “The day Ruthie went missing, the blackflies seemed to be especially hungry” came to her, and the rest of the book followed. How did this line set the scene? What expectations did it give you for the story, and were those fulfilled?
I love those lines. They are a bit poetic, a bit nostalgic and a bit menacing. They hooked me in right away.
Looks like we are going to “go back in time” is what it says to me. It’s intriguing enough to keep me reading.
It’s a perfect opening line, especially because it immediately follows the Prolog. The information given in the Prolog and the opening line set the arc of the novel. I was intrigued and wanted to continue reading to see how the story unfolded. I expected a good story with excellent writing and my expectations were met!
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Her opening certainly drew me in–they set the stage in a haunting fashion and the rest of the story lived up to the promise of a riveting story.
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When I first began “The Berry Pickers,” the first couple chapters led me to predict that the novel would evolve into a diatribe about the injustices that native Americans suffered under the dominant culture. Luckily, I was wrong! Peters could have led this novel into that direction but she chose subtlety and fully fleshed character development instead.
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The opening line did nothing for me. The missing part okay. But hungry black flies??? Really, how can that draw you in?
The intro drew me in. I know about black flies being raised in Canada near lakes. It was a realistic picture of the location.